(Beijing) -- An oil field off the Nigerian coast with substantial reserves – and potential risks – has become the latest foreign prize scooped up as part of China Petrochemical Corp.'s African expansion campaign.

The state-owned oil gorilla better known as Sinopec announced in mid-November that its wholly owned subsidiary Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration and Production Corp. had agreed to buy a 20 percent stake in an offshore block from French oil major Total SA.