PetroChina discovers more oil reserves

PetroChina Co. Ltd. was pleasantly surprised in its oil exploration recently, as the company confirmed Tuesday the discovery of more oil reserves than expected, China Daily reported.

In PetroChina’s exploration at Jidong Nanpu Oilfield in the Bohai Bay, as much as 1.18 billions of tonnes of oil equivalent reserves were found, the Ministry of Land and Resources of China confirmed. The proven reserves are certified at 445 million tonnes of oil equivalent, the report said.
Originally, the country’s top oil and gas producer had estimated to find about 1 billion tonnes of oil equivalent, with the proven reserves reaching 405 million tonnes.

The reserve certification was conducted by independent oil experts from Sinopec, China National Offshore Oil Corporation and the Ministry of Land and Resources. This ensures its authenticity, sources explained.

Analysts believe this finding is due to the effectiveness of advanced technology in exploration and production, and will act as a big incentive in future explorations, China Daily reported, comparing this to the case of Daqing Oilfield in Northeast China, when approximately double the expected reserves were found with intense exploration efforts.

A source with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) Consulting Center, also told China Daily, “It is likely that more reserves are discovered at Nanpu Oilfield In fact, the offshore areas in Bohai Bay are bound to have a larger potential, given the geological features.”

China Knowledge