Chinanews, Beijing, Aug 21 – China will soon start a project to search for oil in the deep-sea area, an area which is 3,000 meters below sea level. The China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) announced last Sunday that it had signed a 130-million-US dollar- contract with the Norwegian Aker Kvaerner MH company for the purchase of the petroleum drilling equipment from the company. The equipment will be used for building an oil-drilling platform in the deep-sea area. The equipment purchase contract is part of the investment made by CNOOC to update its equipment used to explore oil resources in deep-sea areas. In all, CNOOC plans to invest a total of 10 billion yuan for the updating work, the Beijing Morning Post reported.The deep-sea oil drilling platform was jointly designed by CNOOC and the American F&G company, with CNOOC owning the intellectual property rights. The designing and construction work will be done in China. The platform is expected to be put to operation in 2011.Early in last February, CNOOC said that it planned to invest a total of 10 billion yuan to design some special equipment used for oil drilling in the deep-sea areas. CNOOC plans to build the country's first deep-sea oil-drilling vessel in 2010. “Over the next few years, it plans to make several pieces of equipment designed especially for the deep-sea oil drilling. The equipment will include the deep-sea oil-drilling vessels, vessels built for laying pipes in the deep-sea areas, a deep-sea lab and a working team,” CNOOC said.In its latest plan, CNOOC intends to explore some deep-sea areas first with its self-made devices. The test will begin in October. This will be the first time for CNOOC to explore oil resources in deep-sea areas, said Fu Chengyu, CNOOC's general manager.The equipment purchase contract with the Norwegian company will serve as the first step for CNOOC to substantiate its plan to explore oil resources in deep-sea areas. After the completion of the oil-drilling platform, CNOOC will be able to “explore oil resources in the South China Sea, Southeast Asian region, and the coastal areas of West Africa safely and effectively,” CNOOC said.