TOKYO, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Japan's trading house Itochu Corporation has decided to cooprate with a Chinese oilfield operator on oil and gas exploration and production, local media reported Thursday.
Itochu announced Wednesday "the signing of a memorandum of understanding for collaboration in oil & gas exploration and production business between ITOCHU and CITIC Resources Holdings Limited."
Listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, CITIC Resources is a company focusing on natural resources business and is a 59.50 percent subsidiary of CITIC Limited, a large state-owned conglomerate in China.
The memorandum of understanding prescribes future collaboration in the exploration and production business including potential joint acquisition of prime exploration and production assets, and will underpin and form a part of the strategic alliance between the groups, said Itochu, the Tokyo-listed trading house.
Headquartered in Tokyo and with approximately 120 bases in 63 countries, Itochu is engaging in domestic trading, import/export, and overseas trading of various products such as textile, machinery, energy, information and communications technology, and finance, as well as business investment in Japan and overseas.
