French and Brazilian oil companies have been selected to explore two offshore oil fields in Angola respectively, local media in Luanda reported on Tuesday.

However, the largest stakes in the two blocs are to be held by SSI, a joint venture between Angolan state-owned oil company Sonangol and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec.

Carlos Saturnino, director of Sonangol, said on Monday that France's Total is to head exploration in a deepwater field called Bloc 17.

In Bloc 18, Brazil's Petrobras was granted a 30 percent share, with SSI taking 40 percent and Sonangol 20 percent, he said.

Under the tenders, Total is to pay Angola 670 million U.S. dollars and Petrobras 310 million dollars in "signature bonuses'', a one-time cash payment made upon signing a contract, Saturnino said.

Angola is the second-largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria with 1.3 million barrels a day. The Oil Ministry predicts daily output will rise to 2 million barrels a day by 2008.

Source: Xinhua