BEIJING, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- China National Offshore Oil Corp. said it was looking to invest more in unconventional resources to boost profits.
CNOOC Chief Executive Officer Yang Hua in a statement to shareholders said his company would step into unconventional energy resources like ultra-deep-water exploration, coal-bed methane, oil sands and oil and natural gas from shale deposits.
"Lately, we have made several attempts in this area and have progressed smoothly," he said. "I strongly believe that this strategy is necessary for driving the company's long-term growth."
The U.S. Energy Information Administration in its April estimate put Chinese shale gas reserves at more than those of the United States, considered the Saudi Arabia of shale by some energy analysts. CNOOC also recently acquired a 33.3 percent in U.S. shale deposits through a partnership with Chesapeake Energy.
"The resources of the unconventional oil and gas such as shale oil and gas and oil sands are very rich and are expected to become an important driving force of long term energy supply in the future," Yang added.
CNOOC in its announcement of interim results for 2011 recorded net oil and gas production of 168.7 million barrels of oil equivalent, up 12.9 percent compared with the same period last year.
