China firms tap B&R oil and gas supply

Source: Xinhua | 2017-11-24

CHINA’S Belt and Road initiative is helping domestic petrochemical firms expand by tapping the enormous supply of oil and gas in countries along the B&R region, said PetroChina at a conference yesterday.

The company’s overseas oil and gas production totaled 76 million tons of oil equivalent last year, of which 59 million tons were from the region, said Zheng Jun, vice president of PetroChina International Co, at the sixth China International Oil and Gas Trade Congress in Shanghai.

The region accounted for 53 percent of the world’s oil production and 46 percent of gas output last year, Zheng said. He added that there’s great growth potential as 131.5 billion tons of crude have been explored there, making up 55 percent of the globe’s total.

Meanwhile 1.4 million cubic meters of natural gas have been explored in the region, or equivalent to 76 percent of the world’s total, Zheng added.

Supply has long exceeded demand in the region and this has attracted domestic petrochemical companies to collaborate and expand there.