China Sinochem Group, the country's fourth-largest oil company, will bid on oil and gas exploration licenses in Colombia next month, according to reports by the official Xinhua News Agency and Bloomberg News.

The Colombian government has put up as many as 228 oil blocks for international bids this year, covering almost 60 million hectares, according to Bloomberg.

Colombia is South America's third-largest oil producer after Venezuela and Brazil.

Its crude oil output is expected to increase by more than 800,000 barrels per day, reaching over 1 million barrels per day in the next two years.

Sinochem has also submitted a bid for stakes in a large offshore oil field in Brazil in which Norwegian state oil company Statoil ASA (STO) is selling a 40 percent share, valued at as much as $3 billion.

Norway-based Statoil, in which the Norwegian government holds a 67 percent stake, is the biggest offshore oil and gas company in the world. Statoil ASA (STO) holds the license for the Peregrino field Block BM-C-7.

The entire oil field is estimated to hold recoverable reserves of about 500 million barrels of heavy oil.

On March 13, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and Bridas Energy Holdings (BEH) signed a 50-50 joint venture deal in Argentina. CNOOC will pay approximately $3.1 billion to explore and produce oil and gas in Latin America.

Phone calls to Sinochem's information office Tuesday for comment on the deal went unanswered.

Sinochem is targeting an increase in its overseas equity oil production to 5 million metric tons by 2012, as it seeks to transition from a trading firm to an integrated energy company, Xinhua reported.

In March, CNOOC signed an initial deal to develop a $2.5 billion barrel oil field in Iraq.