China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the country's largest oil producer, is to invest in a joint venture refinery in Chad.

The CNPC Service and Engineering Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNPC, has signed an agreement with the Chadian government to jointly invest in a refinery company to the north of N'Djamena, the capital of Chad, according to an announcement on the website of CNPC.

The subsidiary will take charge of all engineering construction and will adopt Chinese design specifications, manufacturing standards and mechanical equipments, said the announcement.

CNPC has not revealed how much it will invest or when the project will start.

Chad began to produce oil in 2003 and has found 13 oil fields so far. It has no refineries in the country and has to import refined oil from overseas.

The CNPC subsidiary has inked overseas service contracts worth US$3.09 billion in 2006, up 22 percent from the previous year.

Since its first cooperation on oil exploration with Sudan in 1996, China had invested in 27 major oil and natural gas projects in 14 African countries by the end of 2005, including Sudan, Algeria, Angola and Nigeria.

(Xinhua News Agency October 6, 2007)