China's largest energy firm announce overseas oil and gas output has surpassed 100m tons with even higher ambitions over the next four years.
China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has declared record output in their projects overseas. Oil and gas have surpassed 100 millions tons, with equity oil and gas reaching 51.7 million tons, equivalent to China's largest domestic oilfield - Daqing. CNPC forecasts this figure will double again to 200 million tons by 2015, accounting for roughly half of its total output.
Despite complicated socio-political conditions in the Middle East and Africa, where Chinese oil companies have placed significant investments, CNPC continues to advocate its “go-out” policy and is set to expand its global presence. According to Bloomberg, PetroChina, CNPC's listed unit, will spend at least $60 billion with in the next ten years on foreign takeovers.
Early this year, PetroChina became the first ever Chinese state-owned company (SOE) to gain full ownership of a Canadian oil sands project. PetroChina acquired a 40% stake in the MacKay River Project from the Calgary-based Athabasca Oil Sands Corp for $674 million, after being granted all necessary regulatory approvals.
The Chinese oil giant aims to begin work on the project, which will require a $1.3 billion investment, by the end of January. Upon completion in 2014 the project will produce 35,000 barrels-per-day, although PetroChina is optimistic that output could rise to as much as 150,000 bpd in the future.