PetroChina existing overseas projects to produce half its oil, gas by 2015

PetroChina Co Ltd, China's largest listed oil company, aims to produce 400 million tonnes of oil equivalent by 2015, with half coming from existing overseas projects, Chairman Jiang Jiemin told a news conference on Wednesday.

By the same date, the company said it planned to double the volume and value of its oil trading business from 2010, when it turned over 200 million tonnes and $100 billion, with a network of trading hubs in Singapore, London and New York.

As part of its expansion in the Americas, it said it would build storage and transportation facilities in the Caribbean.

Outside of China, PetroChina would focus on Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa, South America and the Asia-Pacific region in the next five years, Jiang said, adding that he saw no impact on the company from political unrest in North Africa and the Middle East.

Jiang said he expected the oil prices to remain high, at about $95 per barrel in the second half of 2011. US light crude was trading at about $97.89 per barrel on Thursday.

The company, controlled by state-owned China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), said it intended to further expand its domestic gas business, which was expected to benefit from a Russian pipeline deal in coming months.

Jiang said China and Russia had reached a consensus on most technical and commercial terms, but a few key questions remained.

The talks have focused on a western pipeline route that crosses the narrow stretch of the China-Russia border between Mongolia and Kazakhstan, but Jiang said PetroChina was hopeful of a breakthrough on an eastern pipeline, which would serve a more mature market.

The company would work closely with strategic partner Royal Dutch Shell Plc to develop unconventional gas in China and intended to be a leader in coal-bad methane (CBM) in China, both in terms of technology and output, he said.

PetroChina had CBM blocks in the Qingshui basin, Shanxi province, and a tight gas business in Erdos. It planned to speed up work on tight gas development in the Turpan and Hami basins in Xinjiang province, Jiang said.