CNPC Unit to Increase Gas Output
Chinese state-owned CNPC July 2 said that a subsidiary which operates the Changqing field plans to produce 38bn m3 of natural gas this year, up from 36.9bn m3 in 2017, an increase of 3%.
Changqing Oilfield Company has presence in five provinces, namely Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia and Shanxi, and supplies natural gas to more than ten big and medium sized cities, including Beijing, Tianjin and Shijiazhuang.
The company will drill 2,300 wells during the year in the Changqing field, the highest on record, CNPC said. Changqing field, one of China’s biggest, is located in Ordos Basin in the north of the country.
Chinese state-owned explorers, primarily CNPC, have ramped up output to meet strong domestic demand. Last year, China's natural gas production was 147.42bn m³, up 8.5% year-on-year, according to statistics bureau data. CNPC’s gas production crossed 100bn m3 last year for the first time. The company accounted for more than 70% of China’s natural gas production last year.
The International Energy Agency forecast last week that China will become the world's fourth largest natural gas producing nation in 2023, producing 203bn m3.
Beijing Gas Group chairwoman Yalan Li told the World Gas Conference last week that the Chinese government's aim is to increase the share of gas in primary energy from 7% to 10% by 2020.