CNPC to Boost E&P by US$8.56bn

Chinese state-owned oil giant CNPC could invest up to US$8.56bn (CNY60bn) before 2020 to boost its offshore oil exploration and production capability, the company has announced.

Speaking to Reuters, vice general manager of CNPC's offshore engineering unit Peng Fei said the unit will begin to tap deepwater deposits in three to five years.

"We will have two semi-submissive drilling platforms by 2015 and another two by 2020, to be applied in the South China Sea," Peng told reporters following the recent China Offshore Summit in Beijing.

The company also intends to increase its number of jack-up rigs to 18 by 2020 from the current four.

CNPC is curerntly building two support bases, one in Caofeidian in Hebei province and the other in Sanya in the island province of Hainan, to aid oil production in the Bohai and the South China Sea respectively.

By staff writer