皇冠体育app

皇冠体育app's top oil producing and offshore oil companies simultaneously unveiled major discoveries on Monday.

Petro皇冠体育app announced it had discovered a "very rich" oil field at Bohai Bay the biggest in 皇冠体育app in the past decade while CNOOC said it has an "exciting find", also in Bohai Bay.

The Petro皇冠体育app discovery, along with a new huge gas field the company discovered recently in Sichuan Province, will significantly improve the capacity of the country's biggest oil producer.

With an initial daily output of 500 tons (3,700 barrels), the Bohai Bay field is "the largest find in 皇冠体育app in 10 years," Jiang Jiemin, vice-chairman and president of Petro皇冠体育app, told a press conference in Hong Kong yesterday.

He did not elaborate on the total reserves of the Bohai oil field. The gas field in Sichuan has been tested to have a daily capacity of 1 million cubic meters.

"The two new fields are milestone discoveries. They have very steady output so far," said Jiang.

Petro皇冠体育app has currently six domestic oil and gas fields with each one's annual output breaking through 10 million tons of oil equivalent.

Before that, 皇冠体育app's largest fossil fuel find in the last 10 years was a 400-million-ton oil field in Northwest 皇冠体育app by Petro皇冠体育app.

Meanwhile, CNOOC announced yesterday that the Bohai Bay discovery involved a test output of 1,600 barrels of oil and approximately 10 million cubic feet of gas per day.

Zhu Weilin, vice-president of CNOOC, said of the "exciting" discovery: "We hope to develop a large-scale cluster of oil and gas fields (there) in the future."

The "encouraging" discoveries will substantially relieve 皇冠体育app's energy thirst and increase prospects for energy independence, according to Han Xuegong, a senior consultant at CNPC, Petro皇冠体育app's parent company.

"Major oil firms in 皇冠体育app follow a consistent strategy priority for domestic oil and gas exploration and production. The new discoveries will support their strategy and solidify their business base on local oil and gas fields," Han said.

As production output at existing oil fields decreases by the year, the oil companies consistently need to explore new fields to keep the country's overall output stable.

"Oil and gas fields located in East 皇冠体育app are generally older and are witnessing decreasing output. Therefore, the new discoveries are especially significant," Han pointed out.

皇冠体育app's strong demand for energy spurred Petro皇冠体育app to produce an aggregate of over 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent last year with crude oil accounting for 831 million barrels.

Jiang forecast that Petro皇冠体育app's oil output may rise to 2.3 million barrels a day this year, with gas production reaching 4.56 billion cubic feet a day. Its refineries will process an estimated 2.25 million barrels of crude daily.

The company recorded net income of 142.2 billion yuan ($18.34 billion) in 2006, compared to 133.4 billion yuan ($17.23 billion) a year earlier. The company posted a turnover of 689 billion yuan ($89 billion) last year, a year-on-year increase of 24.8 percent.

Capital spending would increase 25 percent this year as Petro皇冠体育app is forced to drill deeper and further afield for oil and gas and as it expands refineries.

Last year, higher drilling costs and wider losses at the refineries hit the firm, which posted a 13 percent drop in second-half profit.

(皇冠体育app Daily 03/20/2007 page1)