China Oilfield Services Limited (COSL) said on Wednesday it had signed a service contract worth almost 400 million yuan (56 million U.S. dollars) for deep water operation.

COSL, the listed arm of the country's largest offshore oil producer, China National Offshore Oil Corp., will provide technician services for a foreign company engaging in deep water operations in the eastern part of the South China Sea, according to the contract. COSL declined to reveal the name of the company.

The main contract period starts from the second half of this year and last for three years. It may extend for another two years.

As an important area of development for oil companies, deep water operation is also one of the strategies for COSL, said Yuan Guangyu, COSL's CEO and president.

COSL forecasted in January its unaudited 2007 net profit would grow 95 percent from a year earlier and its turnover would rise about 40 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency March 21, 2008)