CNPC may invest up to $8.5b to tap offshore oil
April 03rd, 2008 | China DailyChina National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), the nation’s largest oil
producer, could invest up to 60 billion yuan ($8.56 billion) before 2020 to
boost its offshore oil exploration and production capability, Peng Fei,
vice general manager of CNPC’s offshore engineering unit, said yesterday.
“We will have two semi-submersible drilling platforms by 2015, and
another two by 2020, all of them in the South China Sea,” said Peng.
CNPC will also build two bases, one in Caofeidian, North China’s Hebei
Province, and the other in Sanya, South China’s Hainan Province, to
support production in the Bohai and South China Sea. It is also planning
an offshore oil engineering base in Qingdao, East China’s Shandong
Province.
The CNPC move will break offshore oil exploration history, mainly
dominated by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation, said experts
familiar with the matter.
CNPC’s offshore oilfields today are in the Bohai Sea area, and CNPC
will explore deepwater oilfields in the next two or three years.
By Tu Lei