As China's Oil Demand Explodes, Some Question Status Of Tarim Basin Fields

[hatrack]

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"The basin is expected to spew six million tonnes (120,000 bpd) of crude oil yearly by 2005. Gas output could soar to 12 billion cubic metres versus one billion now, local officials say. PetroChina Ltd (0857.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) (PTR.N: Quote, Profile, Research) , the country's flagship oil concern, reckons it holds more than 10 billion tonnes of oil and 8.0 trillion cubic metres of natural gas - the world's fourth and third largest caches, respectively.

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'The Tarim Basin is very important for the development of China. Despite adverse natural conditions, our crude oil production this year will hit 5.25 million tonnes,' said Sun Longde, president of PetroChina's Tarim Oilfield Company. But that's a mere drop in the ocean for a country that imported 74.15 million tonnes in the first 10 months of 2003, a jump of 30.3 percent from the corresponding period of 2002.

Blistering economic growth of about eight percent a year underpinned incremental Chinese oil demand, with the International Energy Agency saying China's overall demand would grow 443,000 bpd, or nine percent in 2003, followed by another 300,000 bps, or six percent next year."

And Western analysts says the basin's reserves could be as much as 100 times overestimated. 'There could be a bit of misunderstanding because China often looks at in-place reserves rather than those that may be commercially recoverable and actually utilised,' said a Beijing-based consultant who did not want to be named.

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http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/23079/story.htm

[alfredo]

1. Iraq's oil fields are in a good location to supply south Asia.

The ocean currents are favorable for shipping to that region too. ANWR also has favorable ocean currents for supplying China and Japan.