Sinopec Volunteered To Increase Oil and Gas Output

Asian oil giant China Petrochemical Corp or Sinopec said it might produce 1.9 per cent more crude oil and 11 per cent more gas this year.

The company might pump 40 million tons of crude oil and 7 billion cubic metres of natural gas from domestic fields this year, said Sinopec Group, as China Petrochemical is known, in a statement on its website yesterday.

The company produced 39.27 million tons of crude oil and 6.3 billion cubic metres of gas last year, according to data from its website.

Chinese oil companies are increasing investments in oil and gas exploration to meet demands by the world's fastest-growing major economy, which expanded 10.7 per cent in the first three quarters of this year.

Sinopec Group's recoverable oil will rise by 45 million tons while its gas reserves will increase by 73.9 billion cubic metres in its domestic fields in 2006, as the Beijing-based oil producer steps up exploration, Sinopec Group said yesterday.

Sinopec Group's overseas oil production may more than double to 4.5 million tons in 2006, the company said yesterday.

The company plans to expand output from Russia's Udmurtneft project to meet rising demand, company President Chen Tonghai said on November 10.