The Wall Street Journal said citing a person familiar with the matter that besieged energy giant BP Plc is set to partner with US rival Chevron Corp to bid for a South China Sea exploration block.

The Journal said the move signals rival firms are still willing to partner with BP in deep water projects in spite of the company failure to stop a Gulf of Mexico oil well leak that is threatening to pollute the US Gulf coast.

The person told the paper that Chevron will have a 60% stake in the block and act as operator with BP holding the remaining interest.

According to the paper CNOOC Ltd a unit of China National Offshore Oil Corp, has the right to take a 51% stake in the block if the companies make a commercial oil or natural gas discovery. However, it was not known whether CNOOC would exercise pre-emption rights on the asset.

(Sourced from The Wall Street Journal)