The agreement, signed Thursday in Sudan\'s capital, Khartoum, calls for a six-year exploration phase and shared future oil production under a 20-year concession, the CNPC-backed China Petroleum Daily reported.
Sudan is among Beijing\'s key oil suppliers. It shipped 4.7 million metric tons of crude oil to China in January-May, a fivefold increase over the same period in 2006.
Much of that oil comes from equity owned by state-owned CNPC, or China National Petroleum Corp., in Sudan.
Human rights activists have accused China of shielding Sudan from pressure over its handling of Darfur. As one of the five U.N. Security Council permanent members with veto power, China has opposed harsh measures against Sudan.
China\'s special envoy on Darfur, Liu Guijin, said late last month that Beijing was doing its best to help solve the conflict.
Fighting has killed more than 200,000 people and made 2.5 million refugees in Darfur since 2003, when ethnic African rebels took up arms against Sudan\'s Arab-dominated government.
CNPC, parent company of Hong Kong and New York-listed PetroChina Co., meanwhile, is facing international pressure from foreign investors to reduce its involvement in Sudan.
