CNPC Forecasts 2009 Average Crude Oil Price at $40 Per Barrel

By Winnie Zhu

March 7 (Bloomberg) -- China National Petroleum Corp., the nation’s biggest oil producer, forecasts average crude oil prices in 2009 will be $40 per barrel, Vice President Yu Baocai told reporters in Beijing today.

CNPC, the parent of PetroChina Co., will cut its oil and gas output this year from 2008 levels because of weaker demand, he said at a meeting of the National People’s Congress, without elaborating.

CNPC has cut its diesel yield from year-earlier levels to use the capacity for gasoline output, Yu said, without providing figures.

To contact the reporter on this story: Winnie Zhu in Shanghai at wzhu4@bloomberg.net