China’s CNPC starts opeationss at key Sudan oil fields
July 31, 2006 (BEIJING) — China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC.YY) has begun operations at two oil blocks in Sudan with annual output estimated at 10 million metric tons of crude in total, equivalent to 200,820 barrels a day, China Oilnews said Monday, citing company officials.
Blocks 3/7 are the most important reserves base of CNPC in Sudan and have gone into operation at a time when the company is making progress in developing its other assets in the country, Chen Geng, group general manager in Sudan, was quoted as saying.
CNPC’s crude production from nearby Block 6 has risen to 40,000 b/d, which is four times the 10,000 b/d that the field reportedly produced at the end of 2005.
The first phase of developing Blocks 1/2/4 has also been completed by CNPC with annual production totaling 1.5 million tons, or 30,100 b/d, the report added.
The blocks comprise CNPC’s oil field assets in Sudan where the firm has a stake in a refinery in Khartoum as well.
The refinery – built jointly by CNPC and Sudan’s Ministry of Energy and Mining in 1997 – was expanded in two phases to double its capacity to 100,000 b/d of crude a year and handle the increase in crude from Block 6.
Most of the refined products from Khartoum are supplied to Sudan’s domestic market, with only a small portion exported to neighboring countries and Europe.
CNPC, which has oil assets in various countries, is the unlisted parent company of PetroChina Co. (PTR), China’s largest integrated oil producer.
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