To ease domestic oil supply-demand pressure, China's three large oil companies: PetroChina, Sinopec and CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Corporation) increased investment for oil exploration last year, thus accelerating the growth of oil/gas reserves.

Last year, PetroChina discovered six hundred-million-ton-class oil/gas fields with newly added verified geologic oil deposits of 520 million tons, and proven gas deposits of 243.6 billion cubic meters. The oil deposits newly proven by Sinopec topped 328 million tons and proven natural gas reserve 177.9 billion cubic meters in 2004. CNOOC has discovered Huizhou 26-3 and Bozhong 34-1 oil and gas,etc.

Last year, the three oil giants also quickened the step of implementing the "going global" strategy, PetroChina obtained the right to an output of 16.03 million tons of overseas oil and 2.59 billion cubic meters of overseas gas respectively. The company also signed abroad six new projects of oil/gas exploration and exploitation; so far, Sinopec has implemented more than 20 oil/gas exploration and exploitation projects overseas. Last year, it obtained the right to the reserve of 100 million tons of oil. CNOOC, together with its cooperative partner, discovered the KE7-3 oilfield in Indonesia, the proportion of its right to Indonesian liquefied natural gas project has increased from 12.5 percent to 16.96 percent, the company also purchased part of the right to Australia's Northwest Continental Shelf project.

By People's Daily Online