China's state-owned energy company CNOOC is to take a 50 per cent stake in Argentina's Bridasin a $3.1bn deal that marks the latest move by Beijing to secure energy resources to power its fast-growing economy.

Yang Hua, CNOOC president, said yesterday that Bridas had world-class oil and gas assets and was a “good beachhead for us to enter Latin America”.

The deal will make CNOOC a partner of Britain's BP in Pan American Energy, a joint venture with coveted oil and gas exploration and production activities across Latin America and in which Bridas has a 40 per cent stake.

Pan American is Argentina's second-biggest oil producer with production of almost 230,000 barrels per day in 2008. It was the country's largest oil exporter last year.

Chinese companies are trying to snap up energy assets across the globe with official backing from Beijing.

Yash Kaman, head of the Asia oil and gas group at JPMorgan, which advised the Chinese energy group, said: “This is an important addition of high-quality reserves and production to CNOOC's portfolio. The fact that this is a partnership should also enable CNOOC to extract maximum value from its investment.”

The Bulgheroni family that owns Bridas will keep a 50 per cent stake through a newly- created joint venture holding company.

CNOOC has been thwarted in some of its recent attempts to do deals. It failed to secure stakes in large offshore fields in Angola and Ghana.

It appears, however, to be having more success in Uganda. Tullow Oil, the UK's largest independent oil explorer, said last week that CNOOC and Total of France were expected to each take a one-third interest in its Ugandan oil fields.

“The Chinese invest abroad because they are looking to position themselves in places they believe will be future sources of supply for China. Argentina is not in this position today. So the question is, ‘what have the Chinese seen?'” said Francisco Mezzadri, an energy consultant.