China CNPC Aims for 60,000 bpd in Sudan Oil Pact
SINGAPORE, Nov 15 (Reuters) - China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), China's largest oil producer, has become the operator of a new oilfield in Sudan and aims to build capacity of 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) within about two years, industry sources said on Wednesday. CNPC signed an agreement with Sudanese oil companies and a Middle East-based firm last Saturday to jointly explore, develop and transport oil in an area about 275 kilometers (170 miles) south of Khartoum, the capital, they said.
CNPC has taken a 23 percent in the field, which currently produces less than 2,000 bpd, said one source close to CNPC's Sudan operation.
"CNPC aims to build a capacity of up to 60,000 bpd there... CNPC is the operator of the project," the source said.
CNPC already holds a 40 percent stake in the Union fields in Sudan's Bentiu Region, a joint venture with the state oil companies of Malaysia and Sudan and independent Canadian oil player Talisman Energy Inc . Production is 200,000 bpd.
Most of the crude output has been exported since last August through a trunk pipeline connecting the field and Port Sudan on the Red Sea.
A new pipeline is expected to be built to move production from the new field to the existing trunk line, the sources said. |
