BEIJING, January 24, 2000 - China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) announces today that their research paper Boxi Block Oil/Gas System - Exploration and Practice Study receives China′s Top National Science & Technology Award from Chinese State Science and Technology Committee.

Boxi Block is located in the western part of the Bohai Bay, approximately 20 kilometers east of Tianjin. As of December 31, 1999, it had approximately 43.8 million barrels of net proved oil reserves and 38.6 billion cubic feet of net proved natural gas reserves.

CNOOC Limited ("the Company") is the sole operator of Boxi Block and currently have two fields, Qikou 17-3 and Qikou 18-1 under production and two fields, Qikou 17-2 and Qikou 18-9, under development. "This study demonstrates that the Company has its own strong science and technology support to the independent operation in the Bohai Bay." said Mr. Fu Cheng Yu, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of CNOOC Limited, "The Company encourages scientific studies and application of state-of-art technologies so as to help grow the company while reducing its cost."

Together, another two research papers also win the awards. Bohai Fast Drilling Technology and Its Application and Investigation and Study to the Resources/Environment/Authorities & Interests in Nansha Islands and Neighboring Area.

CNOOC has been market-oriented since inception and is the parent company to CNOOC Limited, a newly created oil & gas exploration and production company operating offshore China. The Company has been provided the exclusive right to explore for, develop and produce offshore petroleum in cooperation with international oil and gas companies. Furthermore, the Company also enjoys the scientific and technological support from CNOOC.

CNOOC Limited is the largest producer of oil and gas offshore China and one of the largest oil and gas exploration and production companies in the world with net proved reserves of approximately 1.8 billion barrels-of-oil equivalent as of December 31, 1999.