New oil discovery may hold 2.2b barrels

PETROCHINA Co.’s recent major oil discovery in Jidong field, Bohai Bay is estimated to contain probable reserves of 2.2 billion barrels, a government official said yesterday, and is expected to produce 200,800 barrels a day of crude oil within three years, a source close to the field’s operations added.

The government official from the Ministry of Land and Resources, confirmed the discovery in Nanpu block, Jidong field, is the discovery that PetroChina’s vice-chairman and president Jiang Jiemin disclosed at last week’s press conference. The field offshore northeastern China is the biggest discovery in China in the past 10 years, Jiang had said.

Venezuela to double crude supply to China

VENEZUELA would double its exports to China, sending some 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude in 2007, as both sides signed deals Monday. The terms of the contracts were not immediately clear.

Last year, the OPEC nation sold only 150,000 bpd of crude to China. A senior official said Friday Venezuela was looking to ship 1 million bpd by 2012.

China Resources to buy GD power stake

POWER producer China Resources Power said Monday it was in talks to buy at least a 25 percent stake in Guangdong Yuedian Group Co. Ltd., the parent of Guangdong Electric Power Development Co.

“We are in advance talks,” China Resources’ chief executive Wang Shuaiting told reporters. But any deal would need the government’s approval, he added. Yuedian, which has sold a 24 percent stake to Huaneng Group, would like to seek one to three more strategic investors during its share reform, local media reported.

CSCL to issue $233m bonds for ships

CHINA Shipping Container Lines Co. Ltd. (CSCL) said yesterday it planned to issue 1.8 billion yuan (US$232.7 million) worth of bonds to fund the construction of 12 container vessels.

It would apply to the National Development and Reform Commission for approval of the issue, the container carrier said in a statement.

The vessels, including eight with a volume of 8,530 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) each and four at 4,250 TEU each, would be built by China Shipping Industry, a unit of China Shipping’s State-owned parent, it added.