China National Offshore Oil Corp., or Cnooc, said Monday that it was making a second batch of 26 offshore blocks available for development with foreign partners after offering a controversial first batch of nine blocks in June.

The 26 blocks, mostly in shallow water, are in Bohai Bay , the East China Sea and South China Sea , Cnooc said in a statement posted on its website.

While it appears that most of the blocks are in Chinese waters, it's unclear whether Vietnam will protest the offering of the blocks located south of Hainan island.

China is involved in a number of disputes with Southeast Asian nations over offshore drilling rights in the South China Sea .

Cnooc offered nine blocks offshore Vietnam to foreign partners in June.

State-run Vietnam Oil & Gas Group, or PetroVietnam, urged foreign companies to refrain from bidding on those nine blocks, while Vietnam 's foreign ministry said it would protest the offer and demanded its cancellation. The nine blocks are located within Vietnam 's 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, the ministry said.
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