PetroChina's New China Oil Discovery May Hold 2.2B Barrels

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Dow Jones Newswires

BEIJING Mar 27, 2007 (Dow Jones Newswires)

PetroChina Co.'s (PTR) recent major oil discovery in Jidong field, Bohai Bay, China, is estimated to contain probable reserves of 2.2 billion barrels, a government official said Tuesday, and is expected to produce 200,800 barrels a day of crude oil within three years, a source close to the field's operations added.

The government official from the Ministry of Land and Resources, confirmed the discovery in Nanpu block, Jidong field, is the discovery that PetroChina's vice-chairman and president Jiang Jiemin disclosed at last week's press conference.

The field offshore northeastern China is the biggest discovery in China in the past 10 years, Jiang had said.

Crude output from Jidong will likely exceed output from PetroChina's Tarim Basin in the northwest, which is the company's other major oil field, said another source close to the field.

China's largest oil and gas producer plans to announce details of the discovery in May or June, a company official said Tuesday.

This recent big discovery and likely surge in output may ease China's strong demand for crude imports in the coming years, which last year soared 14.4% to 2.9 million barrels a day.

Copyright (c) 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.


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