China National Makes Six Major Oil, Gas Discoveries

By Wang Ying

Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- China National Petroleum Corp. has made six major oil and gas discoveries this year as the country's biggest oil explorer steps up efforts on fuel searches to meet rising domestic demand for energy.

The additional oil reserves found may hit a record for a third year, China National, parent of Hong Kong-listed PetroChina Co., said in a statement on its Web site. The incremental natural-gas deposits discovered may exceed 400 billion cubic meters for a fourth time. No further details were given.

PetroChina, Asia's biggest oil producer, will maintain its pace of spending next year at 2008 levels, Chairman Jiang Jiemin said on Nov. 8. Its parent targets a ``stable'' increase in crude production and a ``rapid'' gain in gas output next year, according to the statement today.

China National will control its unit cost and spending to increase exploration profits amid the global financial crisis, the statement said.

The Beijing-based oil producer aims to become an integrated international energy company and the next five to eight years will be important, Vice General Manager Zhou Jiping said during an internal meeting last week, according to the statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Wang Ying in Beijing at ywang30@bloomberg.net.