CNOOC interested in Ordos Basin resources

China's leading offshore oil company China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) has expressed interest in exploiting oil, gas and coal resources in the inland Ordos Basin in northwest China.
A protocol agreement was signed by CNOOC and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on July 6. CNOOC president, Fu Chengyu, was on a working visit to Inner Mongolia when the agreement was signed.

CNOOC concentrates on oil and gas exploration and development in offshore China, with four major production areas in the Bohai Bay, Western South China Sea, Eastern South China Sea and East China Sea. At the end of 2003, the company owned net proven reserves equivalent to 2.1 bn barrels of oil. Average daily production stood at 356,729 barrel.
The Ordos Basin, traversing five provincial states in northwest China, covers a total area of 370,000 sq km. Nearly half of the basin is located within the boundary of Inner Mongolia. The basin has been found to contain 1.1 bn tons of proven oil reserves and 1183 bn cm ofproven gas reserves.

PetroChina, the largest land oil producer in China, has already registered for mining rights that will span more than two-thirds of the entire basin. Changqing Oilfield located in the basin and developed by PetroChina, recorded 7.28 mm tons of oil output and 5 bn cm of gas output last year.
Under the terms of the agreement, the Inner Mongolia government promises to offer infrastructure support to CNOOC for its prospecting activities.

Aiming to become an integrated oil company with a complete chain of business in addition to offshore oil extraction, CNOOC has drawn up a blueprint for laying an onshore gas grid along the coast of southeast China.
The company has also formed a fertilizer production base on southern China's Hainan Island, and has teamed up with Shell to develop a petrochemical production complex in Guangdong.