SHANGHAI, Apr. 25 -- A Chinese oil company said today it was trying to verify reports of casualties after its site in Ethiopia was attacked by unidentified gunmen.

The field in Somalia State, one of nine states of Ethiopia, was developed by the exploration department of Zhongyuan Oil Field, a subsidiary of Sinopec, said Zhang Yuebang, interim chargéd'affaires at the Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia.

The company has two teams in Ethiopia – one for drilling and the other for exploration.

Zhongyuan's headquarters in Central China's Henan Province, is contacting Ethiopian government for details of the attack and information about any casualties among its work force, Xinhua news agency reported.

Zhongyuan has 90 teams working in 10 overseas countries in Middle East, Africa, South America and Central Asia.

It launched business in Ethiopia via Landin, a British company, and has established long-term cooperation with the local authorities.

Since Zhongyuan launched business operations in overseas markets about 10 years ago, its staff has never met with any trouble, such as work safety accidents or kidnappings. The company said this was mainly due to its efforts in risk control and good relationships with local governments and armies, according to Xinhua.