China's oil majors are strengthening ties with foreign
counterparts to tap domestic and overseas oil-gas reserves, in a
move to meet the country's surging demand for energy.
China's largest oil and gas producer, China National Petroleum
Corp (CNPC) and
Europe's largest oil refiner Total SA, have agreed to develop a gas
field in northwest China, and set up an oil and gas reserve
exploration partnership in a third country.
The two oil giants on Wednesday signed two Memorandums of
Understanding (MOUs) to scale up their footing in both markets
through joint efforts, said a company statement on CNPC's
website.
The Sino-French oil company alliance will work on the Sulige gas
field, located in the Ordos Basin in northwest China, Liu Weijiang,
CNPC spokesman for overseas business on Friday confirmed to
China Daily, but did not elaborate on the overseas assets
that the two oil firms are eyeing.
Industry sources said the Sulige field has gas reserves of up to
602.6 billion cubic meters.
"It is only a set of framework agreements, and more follow-up
projects are still under discussion," Liu said on Friday.
"The partnership with Total marks a significant advance for CNPC
in forging strategic relations with foreign oil conglomerates and
expanding business," the CNPC statement said.
According to the statement, the partnership allows the companies
to complement each other and sharpen their competitive edge. CNPC
will benefit from improved corporate management and technology,
while Total aims to increase its market share.
China, the world's fastest-growing major economy, relies on
imports for almost 40 percent of its oil demand. Industry analysts
forecast that proportion will increase beyond 50 percent by
2020.
The government has also set an ambitious target of accelerating
natural gas use. It plans for natural gas to supply 8 percent of
the nation's energy needs by 2010 from the current 3 percent.
Such a huge demand potential has lured an increasing number of
energy giants from both China and abroad to cash in on the
business.
CNPC's deal came shortly after the nation's third largest oil
producer, China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) signed
similar MOUs with Thai oil companies to expand business in both the
Thai market and overseas fields, last week.
CNOOC has agreed with Thailand-based PTT Public Company Ltd and
PTT Exploration and Production, the two dominant companies in the
Southeast Asian country's oil market, to explore and produce
oil-gas products both in Thailand and abroad. The two sides also
aim to find new potential for old fields in Thailand, a company
statement said.
A CNOOC spokesman on Friday told China Daily the
company plans to double oil production over the next five
years.
(China Daily October 1, 2005)