Chinese oil producer misses targets

The overseas oil and natural gas output of the nation's largest energy producer China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) missed its 2012 targets because of unrest in various countries around the world, the state-run China Daily reported Friday. Its overseas production reached 104 million metric tons in 2012, or about two million barrels per day (bpd), the second successive time the company has achieved more than 100 million tons of output outside of China. However, the output was still more than 15 million tons less than its annual target, which it blamed on political instability in some of the countries in which it has oil and gas resources, such as Sudan, the newspaper said. The figures show that CNPC's overseas share of production last year was 52. 4 million tons, up 1.4 percent from 2011. Its global oil and gas trade volume reached more than 300 million tons for the first time, up 18.5 percent annually. One notable area of success was its oil output in Rumaila, Iraq's biggest oilfield, which reached more than 25 million tons in 2012, the highest output of its overseas projects. China's overall domestic crude oil output will reach 207 million tons in 2012, a record high, according to Zhu Fang, deputy director of the information and marketing department of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation. "Domestic crude oil production has not yet reached its peak, but the growth rate will not increase too much in the short term," Zhu was quoted as saying. Although China's crude output has been increasing, domestic consumption has been rising faster. The China Petroleum Enterprise Association estimated that China's crude oil consumption will be more than 500 million tons in 2013 and demand will continue to grow over the next five years.