CNOOC eyes Gulf of Mexico entry
China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) hopes to invest in oil and gas
leases in the US Gulf of Mexico in two years, an executive said today.
Zhou Shouwei, vice president of CNOOC, said in response to a question after an
Offshore Technology Conference luncheon that the company probably would bid
on leases with a partner.
He declined to elaborate. "We prepare for a lot of acquisitions but it is a
secret," he said, Reuters reported.
CNOOC is studying investments worldwide, he said. "We're looking for
opportunities," Zhou said.
Zhou declined to comment on the progress of efforts to acquire liquefied
natural gas from Iran.
The CNOOC executive said in his luncheon presentation that China has built
four LNG import terminals and is developing four more.
China expects LNG imports to grow because demand is expected to rise to 7.9
trillion cubic feet per year by 2020 while domestic supply grows only to 2.9
Tcf, he said.
Zhou said CNOOC is spending $6 billion to buy 1.2 billion barrels of oil
equivalent in reserves by 2010.
The goal by 2020 is to invest $50 billion to reach 3 billion barrels of oil
equivalent in reserves down to 3000 meters of water depth, he said.
Part of the effort is a new approach to field development that combines
primary, secondary and tertiary recovery techniques from the start of
production.
The goal of the new approach in CNOOC field development is to drill fewer
wells and have higher initial production rates from each well, he said.
Much of China's offshore oil reserves are heavy oil, presenting production
challenges, he said. China will have half the world's offshore heavy oil
production by 2010, he said.
In some offshore areas, China's seabed has "sand waves" and "sand ridges" that
create additional oil and gas development challenges, Zhou said.
06 May 2008 00:15 GMT
| last updated:
06 May 2008 00:15 GMT
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