(Reuters) - Oil major BP Plc (L:BP) said on Thursday it had signed a second shale gas production sharing contract with China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) [CNPET.UL].
The contract with state-owned CNPC, signed in July, covers an area of about 1,000 square kilometres at Rong Chang Bei in the Sichuan Basin, BP said in a statement.
The Sichuan Basin, also known as the Szechwan Basin, is a lowland region located in southwestern China.
CNPC will operate the project, the British company said.
The two companies agreed to a framework on strategic cooperation during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Britain in October.
"CNPC and BP's existing cooperation covers various areas including upstream and retail business in China, overseas upstream exploration and development and international trading," CNPC Chairman Wang Yilin said in the statement.
BP and CNPC signed their first shale gas production sharing contract in March.