PetroChina to open 18 new areas

PetroChina to open 18 new areas

SHANGHAI (AFP): China's leading oil company PetroChina will open 18 new areas for oil and gas exploration and development by foreign firms, state media said Friday.

Zhang Xiangning, an official in PetroChina's foreign cooperation administration department, told the China Daily the company would offer blocks in the Tarim Basin, the Ordos Basin and the Songliao Basin to foreign participation.

This is the first time China has offered so many blocks, areas of unspecified size designated for oil exploration, for foreign firms to develop, the paper reported.

Along with the 23 pockets of oil and gas already under negotiation with foreign companies, the potential production of areas under foreign management is expected to account for 20 percent of PetroChina's total production, the paper quoted Zhang as saying.

The 18 blocks, which include Kela II gas field in the Tarim Basin -- one of China's largest and richest gas fields, located in a desert area in the country's westernmost region of Xinjiang -- will be offered for public bidding in one or two months, Zhang said.