BEIJING -- China's Ministry of Land and Resources will open a second public tender for the sale of shale gas prospecting rights later this year after its first tender sale held on Monday, the Shanghai Securities News said in a Thursday report.

The second public tender may open the sector partially to foreign companies, the report quoted an unnamed source as saying.

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As an attempt to better manage the country's oil and gas resources, the ministry tries to promote the shale gas mining industry and change the energy structure through tender sale, the report quoted experts as saying.

According to the report, the first public tender offered sales of shale gas prospecting rights in four regions, including southwest China's Guizhou province and the municipality of Chongqing.

Bidders for the first public tender included the country's leading oil producers PetroChina, Sinopec and the China National Offshore Oil Corp. The bidding results will be made public in July, according to the report.