Forbes.com
AFX News Limited
10.13.2006, 02:35 AM

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - PetroChina Co said gas and oil output from the Tarim Basin fields in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region may jump 50 pct this year as the company intensifies its search for new supplies, state media reported.

PetroChina Tarim Oilfield Co expects to produce the equivalent of 15 mln metric tons of oil this year, up from 10 mln in 2005, the official China Daily cited Sun Longde, president of the PetroChina unit, as saying.

PetroChina's parent, China National Petroleum Corp, has invited tenders for 12 exploration areas in Tarim, with Total SA and Chevron Texaco Corp among foreign companies that have requested details of the sites ahead of possible bids, the report cited Sun Tairong, a director at Tarim Oilfield, as saying.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe's largest oil company by market value, is also considering bidding for the Xinjiang oil and gas fields, the report said.

Output from Tarim may reach 6.05 mln tons of crude (44 mln barrels) and 11.4 bln cubic metres of natural gas this year, Sun Longde said.