CNOOC to increase output
CNOOC, China's largest offshore oil producer, plans to increase its oil and gas output by 15-16 percent to about 199 million barrels of oil equivalent in 2008, the China Daily reported.
The figure is an increase compared to the 171 million BOE output in 2007, Yang Hua, CNOOC's chief financial officer, told reporters in Hong Kong.
To fuel the growth, the company plans to earmark $5.24 billion as capital expenditure for 2008, increasing 43.7 percent compared with 2007. The capital expenditure for exploration and development activities is expected to increase to $1.04 billion and $4.15 billion respectively.
"CNOOC will embrace a period featuring high output growth," Chairman Fu Chengyu said.
The company expects to achieve a replacement ratio of over 100 percent in 2008, meaning it would discover enough reserves to replace all of its output.
"During the year, 10 new projects are expected to come on stream, including major offshore projects such as platform B, D, E of Penglai 19-3 phase II and Wenchang oilfields and Xijiang 23-1," the company said in a statement.
Yang is sure the company will maintain a high growth rate and will achieve a 7-11 percent compound annual growth rate from 2006 to 2010.
With high oil prices, Yang said they would not considerably affect domestic crude prices since only 30 percent of the mainland's oil supply is imported.
Gazprom, UES to set up venture
Gazprom and Unified Energy System of Russia set up a joint venture called Mezhregionenergostroi to construct Power Unit 2 of the Kaliningrad combined heat and power plant, Mezhregiongaz told Interfax.
Gazprom will hold 51 percent of the joint venture; and UES's successor, Inter RAO UES, 49 percent.
Gazprom will contribute cash to the project to fund the building of Power Unit 2, and UES will contribute Power Unit 1.
The parties also agreed on long-term gas supplies to the heat and power plant, and Mezhregionenergostroi and Kaliningradregiongaz signed a deal to that end.
"Thus, the government's instruction on resolving the problem of gas supplies to the Kaliningrad heat and power plant has been fulfilled," Mezhregiongaz said.
Turkmenistan to export gas to South Asia
Speaking at a government meeting following a recent visit of a Turkmen delegation to India, the country's president Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov called for expanding comprehensive relations with India, according to local television reports.
The Turkmen president said the two sides are expected to start cooperating on economic issues, including the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas export pipeline project, known as Trans-Afghan project.
However, the project, first announced during the Taliban rule in Afghanistan and backed up by some Western companies, had never had a favorable condition for its start. Even now, when the Taliban group has been overthrown and relative stability restored in Afghanistan, some uncertainty still remains there.
On the one hand, Turkmenistan is eager to diversify its gas export markets, and India, on the other hand, is seeking various routes of energy imports as well as for reliable suppliers of energy sources, according the local media reports.
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Closing oil prices, Jan. 30, 3 p.m. London
Brent crude oil: $92.91
West Texas Intermediate crude oil: $92.29
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