The Somali government will receive big production bonuses from CNOOC if it makes significant discoveries of oil in the country, even though the Chinese state-owned company has secured the right to nearly half of any profits from oil production.

A production-sharing contract signed in May 2006 says the transitional federal government (TFG) will receive $50m (€36m, £25m) bonuses for any wells that yield more than 200,000 barrels a day for 75 consecutive days, the Financial Times has learnt from one person who has seen the document.