China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) recently announced its approval for seven overseas investment projects by the country's three oil giants, the National Business Daily reported Monday.

The projects include China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC)'s purchase of a 33.3% stake in undeveloped Exploration Areas (EA) 1, 2 and 3A located in Uganda from British-based Tullow Oil; CNOOC's acquisition of OPTI Canada; Sinopec Group's purchase of Shell's assets in Cameroon and Canadian oil producer Daylight Energy Ltd.; China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC)'s investment in oil blocks in the Amu Darya Basin in Afghanistan; CNPC's Chad project and its purchase of a 20-percent stake in Shell's Canadian shale gas assets.

The NDRC review the projects in the six-month period between July and December last year.

Global oil and gas M&As cooled down last year, with transaction volumes dropping more than 30 percent. However, Chinese companies bucked the trend, sealing deals worth almost US$20 billion.

China's business press carried the story above on Monday.

Contact the writer of this story at: yanp@china.org.cn.