Stitch:
Perhaps I should ask the professor, but you may be able to answer, or
pass on my query.
I really could not find the exact article I was looking for, but this
will do:
TECHNICAL innovation is expected to become a key force in boosting China's onshore oil development and exploration in the next three years.
The China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), which produces 90 per cent of the country's oil, has drawn up a plan to undertake scientific and technical progress to increase oil output in 1998.
"It always tops our agenda to accelerate exploration by applying more advanced technology," said a company official. CNPC will introduce advanced technology, especially three-dimensional seismic technology, to promote oil exploration.
The Tarim Basin will be the main focus, the official said.
The 560,000-square-kilometre basin, the largest in China, is thought to be the last large oil-bearing basin to be developed in the world.
According to the second national oil and gas resource assessment conducted by CNPC, the basin has 10.8 billion tons of oil reserves and 8,400 billion cubic metres of natural gas, or one-seventh of the country's oil and one-quarter of its natural gas.
To date, major oilfields have not been found in the basin because of its extremely complicated geological conditions.
Other western basins, including Qaidam, Jungar, Turpan-Hami and Karamay, are also listing their priorities in the new round of large-scale exploration, the official said.
Thanks to broad technical applications, a string of breakthroughs has been achieved in exploration, especially in western China, the official said. In 1997, newly proven reserves and controlled reserves totalled 1.8 billion tons of oil equivalent, the highest in recent years.
Ten large oil fields, with reserves of over 100 million tons each, have been verified this year. Eight of them are located in the west.
The Tarim Basin, where important discoveries have been made in its Bachu, Tazhong, Lunnan and Kudong regions, was in the spotlight in 1997.
Technical progress is also playing a significant role in enhancing oil output. CNPC has successfully been using technology to control water to stabilize output of China's eastern high-water-bearing oilfields for a long time. Other advanced technology, such as polymer flooding, has attained industrial production levels.
Thanks to these advanced technologies, Daqing Oilfield has maintained its annual output of over 50 million tons of oil for 22 years.
Several new production technologies based on polymer flooding, named tertiary oil recovery, helped Daqing increase oil output last year by 2.7 million tons more than in 1996.
In total, CNPC pumped 143.2 million tons of crude oil and 17.17 billion cubic metres of natural gas in 1997, 1.8 million tons and 730 million cubic metres more over its 1996 output.
CNPC also gained 970,000 tons of crude oil from its overseas projects last year. Date: 01/10/98
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My point in mentioning this is extremely simple economics, but I'm
a simple person. China has something that neither Europe, nor
North America have anymore....vast areas of untapped natural resources. Forests, gold, oil, etc. . Austria and Scandanavia have providing technology to China. As China develops these resources,
would it not be possible to maintain their balance of payments &
thus their currency?
WHile this is an extreme example, Kuwait doesn't "make" anything.
Yet, per capita they have the highest income in the world. Nobody
questions their currency. All because they happen to be floating
on an ocean of oil. Again, China is no Kuwait. But Kuwait does
demonstrate how a country's natural resources can go a long way
in supporting an economy.
Doug |
