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China's new recoverable crude reserves up 10.8 percent in 2006
AFP
BEIJING
Petroleumworld.com 03 30 07
The Ministry of Land and Resources said Thursday that China discovered new recoverable crude oil reserves of 195 million tonnes in 2006, up 10.8 percent from a year earlier.
New proven reserves fell 1.6 percent to 949 million tonnes last year, the ministry said in a statement on its website.It also said 581.6 billion cubic metres (20 trillion cubic feet) of proven natural gas reserves was added in 2006, down 6.2 percent from 2005.
The estimates are based on preliminary statistics from fields controlled by PetroChina, Sinopec, China National Offshore Oil Corp and other local oil and gas companies, it said.The reserve-production ratio, which reflects the number of years during which known reserves could sustain output during a given year, came in at 11 in 2006, down from between 14 and 15 since the 1990s, it added.
With existing oil fields drying up, China has been increasingly keen to find energy and resources both at home and abroad to fuel what has grown into the world's fourth largest economy.
According to recent figures, China last year relied on imports for 47 percent of total oil consumed, with the cost up 22.8 percent to reach 81.9 billion dollars.
Imports this year are expected to account for just under half of its needs, rising more than 10 percent to top 160 million tonnes.
AFP 29 0902 GMT 03 07
Copyright© 2007 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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