[Changleen]

DRB to the white phone, please.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/D86DD6C8-0CFF-4C0F-BBF6-65BC51EF5B9E.htm

China finds 'world scale' oilfield

China's biggest oil producer says it has discovered a massive new offshore oil field that could become the country's largest domestic petroleum source in a decade.

The field in the Bohai Bay, in eastern China, could hold reserves of up to 2.2 billion barrels, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The estimated output is equivalent to 5.4 per cent of China's total crude production in 2006, the agency quoted sources with PetroChina as saying.

The find comes amid intense exploration by China's oil companies, looking to reduce the country's rapidly growing dependence on foreign oil.

Such a field, if confirmed, would be a "world-scale discovery", Gavin Thompson, an oil consultant based in Beijing, told the Associated Press.

"In terms of energy security, a 2 billion barrel discovery is going to be very welcome, not only to PetroChina but to China's energy planners."

Jiang Jiemin, vice-chairman and president of PetroChina, said it was "the largest find in China in 10 years".

The Nanpu block in Bohai Bay, partly offshore, covers an area of 1,300-1,500 sq km and is expected to produce high-value light crude, the company said.

Leading importer

CNOOC, another leading energy company, announced this week that it had also discovered new oil and gas fields in Bohai Bay, yielding a test output of 1,600 barrels of oil and approximately 10 million cubic feet of gas per day.

Zhu Weilin, vice-president of CNOOC, said of the discovery: "We hope to develop a large-scale cluster of oil and gas fields [there] in the future."

China, which once met its energy needs from domestic oilfields, has turned into a leading importer of fuel since the 1990s amid surging economic growth.

It is now the world's second largest energy consumer after the US.

The country met almost half of its energy needs through imported fuel in 2006 with oil consumption rising by 9.3 per cent to 2.4 billion barrels.

Easing the pressure

Jim Brock, an industry consultant in Beijing, said while the Bohai discovery would help lessen the pressure for more imports, there would still be "significant pressure".

China, he said, would continue to be a major player in the international market.

Economists say Chinese oil demand, driven by economic growth that reached 10.7 per cent in 2006, has strained world supplies and pushed up prices.

The government is trying to improve the energy efficiency of its economy, which consumes several times more units of energy per unit of output than Japan or the US.

Although Chinese drillers have found several big gas fields, the Bohai discovery is the first major oil find since the mid-1990s.

Makes China that bit more secure. I find this whole ascendant super-nation thing very interesting. One hopes for a peaceful transition to China's primacy. Everyone but Dick Cheney anyway...

 

[valve bouncer]

Doesn't bother you that this "ascendant super-nation" is a totalitarian dictatorship?

 

[stevew]

So were not running out of oil?

 

[MMike]

Said it before and I'll say it again....my kids are going to learn to speak chinese......

 

[DRB]

Can't talk about it.

Though Iran is crapping its already crappy pants a lot more.

 

[$tinkle]

Said it before and I'll say it again....my kids are going to learn to speak chinese......

so it's safe to say you're bringing an interpreter to the reunion?

 

[Changleen]

Doesn't bother you that this "ascendant super-nation" is a totalitarian dictatorship?

A little. At least they're up front about it. I'm headed over there in a bit. I'll let you know.

 

[Changleen]

So were not running out of oil?

Define 'We'.

 

[MikeD]

Thank god the oil didn't end up in the hands of the USA, who'd pollute the world with it...at least it's an environmentally responsible country like China. That's why they all wear those respirator masks in the city, right? They don't even want the CO2 they exhale to increase global warming...

MD

 

[N8 v2.0]

Thank god the oil didn't end up in the hands of the USA, who'd pollute the world with it...at least it's an environmentally responsible country like China. That's why they all wear those respirator masks in the city, right? They don't even want the CO2 they exhale to increase global warming...

MD

good think communist china is much closer to NZ than the USA.

 

[MikeD]

Well, it's irrelevant to the strategic point and not an attempt to divert the thread...I just got a little choked up thinking about how much smog that is buried in the earth, and how good the Chinese are at producing smog...but back to your regularly scheduled PAWN.

 

[Secret Squirrel]

Well, it's irrelevant to the strategic point and not an attempt to divert the thread...I just got a little choked up thinking about how much smog that is buried in the earth, and how good the Chinese are at producing smog...but back to your regularly scheduled PAWN.

I've seen a lot of asian tourists walking around Seattle with those masks on...kinda surprising cause the city's like what 1.5 million spread out....not exactly Shanghai on the pollution scale...maybe they just don't like the smell of coffee...

 

[Changleen]

I think the Chinese are aware of the effects of their hydrocarbon-fuelled growth. They are still technologically behind the 1st world in a lot of ways, including carbon sequestration. Time is required, and if we are really concerned so is a little help.

 

[Changleen]

I've seen a lot of asian tourists walking around Seattle with those masks on...kinda surprising cause the city's like what 1.5 million spread out....not exactly Shanghai on the pollution scale...maybe they just don't like the smell of coffee...

Probably mostly Japanese.

 

[Secret Squirrel]

Probably mostly Japanese.

yeah. but we're not as bad as Tokyo either...*shrug* I'm gonna go with the coffee theory.

 

[Changleen]

It's not about pollution, it's about airborne disease.

 

[Secret Squirrel]

It's not about pollution, it's about airborne disease.

I'm still sticking to the coffee theory.




(I honestly never thought about airborne disease prevention....huh...us dirty 'mericans...I see it now...)

 

[Changleen]

(I honestly never thought about airborne disease prevention....huh...us dirty 'mericans...I see it now...)

They wear them a lot in Japan too. Especially older folk. I think after SARS it became kinda normal for older people. Ask VB.

 

[Silver]

(I honestly never thought about airborne disease prevention....huh...us dirty 'mericans...I see it now...)

Maybe it's a side effect of the Asian concept of personal space, which is a little different from ours?

 

[Secret Squirrel]

Maybe it's a side effect of the Asian concept of personal space, which is a little different from ours?

Gives new meaning to "Heave ho."

 

[Changleen]

It's fun being on those rush hour trains with all the cute office chicks.

"I'm on yr trainz, invading your personal spaces!"

 

[Secret Squirrel]

It's fun being on those rush hour trains with all the cute office chicks.

"I'm on yr trainz, invading your personal spaces!"

Hmmm....and me being as tall as I am....just about the right height for....I might like Japan....

 

[valve bouncer]

Hmmm....and me being as tall as I am....just about the right height for....I might like Japan....

If ya like crashing your head repeatedly into low hanging door-ways Japan is just for you. The masks are for when people are sick. My missus just had the flu and she wore one when she went to the doctors. Laughed my head off when I saw it.
Oh yeah, and if you're wondering whether the flu vaccine works, 3 members of the family had the vaccine this year, only Mrs VB didn't.

 

[Secret Squirrel]

If ya like crashing your head repeatedly into low hanging door-ways Japan is just for you. The masks are for when people are sick. My missus just had the flu and she wore one when she went to the doctors. Laughed my head off when I saw it.
Oh yeah, and if you're wondering whether the flu vaccine works, 3 members of the family had the vaccine this year, only Mrs VB didn't.

True...there's prolly not even enough space for her to rubberneck...hmmm...false alarm.