Home>News Center>China
       
 

China sets up new oil group to meet demands
(AP)
Updated: 2005-09-17 09:58

Moving to meet soaring domestic demand, China has set up a new oil company licensed to handle exploration, development and refining, officials and reports said Friday.

China sets up new oil group to meet demands
Chinese employees of China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) work at Tarim Oil Field, a branch company of CNPC, in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in this October 10, 2004 file photo. [Reuters]
State-owned Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum Group Co. was formed by merging 21 exploration and development companies and three refineries, state media reports said. The reports said the company will be China's fourth-largest oil company.

An official at the Shaanxi provincial State-owned Assets Supervision Administration, the government agency in charge of state companies, confirmed that the company was launched recently.

With demand for crude oil soaring as China's economy roars ahead at a growth rate of more than 9 percent annually, China has stepped up efforts to locate and tap its domestic reserves.

Shaanxi Yanchang is a major provincial refiner that is being joined with upstream producers in an attempt to build a competitive new company.

Shaanxi is China's fourth largest oil producing province, with crude output reaching more than 90 million barrels in 2004.

China maintains state control of its strategically important oil and gas companies, with the other major producers — China National Petroleum Corp., China Petrochemical Corp. and China National Offshore Oil Corp. — accounting for almost all production.

However, in Shaanxi, a small private oil exploration and exploitation sector developed, aided by local officials eager to boost the impoverished regional economy.

Those private companies, outlawed by the central government, have been absorbed by Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum, state media reports say.

The Shaanxi state assets administration official said the value of Shaanxi Yanchang's assets was still being evaluated.

According to a recent report in the Shaanxi Daily, Yanchang Petroleum Industry Group Corp., the flagship company of the new conglomerate, produced 13.5 million barrels of crude oil last year, excluding output by smaller companies in the first seven months of this year, up 25 percent from the same period a year earlier.

Its refinery output was 32.2 million barrels, up 20 percent year-on-year. Its sales surged 58 percent on-year during the same period to 15 billion yuan ($1.9 billion.)



Fire kills 5 in Northeast China
Aerobatics show in Hunan
Final rehearsal
  Today's Top News     Top China News
 

Australia, US, Japan praise China for Asia engagement

 

   
 

Banker: China doing its best on flexible yuan

 

   
 

Hopes high for oil pipeline deal

 

   
 

Possibilities of bird flu outbreaks reduced

 

   
 

Milosevic buried after emotional farewell

 

   
 

China considers trade contracts in India

 

   
  EU likely to impose tax on imports of Chinese shoes
   
  Bankers confident about future growth
   
  Curtain to be raised on Year of Russia
   
  Coal output set to reach record high of 2.5b tons
   
  WTO: China should reconsider currency plan
   
  China: Military buildup 'transparent'
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  Related Stories  
   
Iraq oil exports resume at reduced rate
   
Oil price surged to record US$67.4 over storm fear
   
Russia claims no oil-for-food violations
   
'Joint energy move to benefit India, China'
   
'Joint energy move to benefit India, China'
   
Oil prices may rise on storm concerns: analysts
   
Firms sign deals to co-develop oilfields
   
Oil leaps above $70 on Katrina
Manufacturers, Exporters, Wholesalers - Global trade starts here.
Advertisement