China to calculate oil and gas reserves according to new standards

China will adopt new standards to calculate and register its verified oil and natural gas reserves to get accurate data.
The calculation will be based on the Classification of Resources and Reserves of Oil and Natural Gas, a new national standard that was implemented beginning Oct.1, Vice Minister of Land and Resources (MLR) Wang Min said. He said that the calculation will focus on the geological reserves and workable reserves of the country's oil and natural gas to facilitate their rational utilization and protection.

A leading group has been established to direct the work, which includes members of MLR and three state-owned oil companies, he said. The work will be completed by the middle of 2006.
China's booming economy is feeling the pinch caused by shortages of energy resources, including oil. Experts predicted that country's oil imports will jump by nearly 10 % this year to 100 mm tons, accounting for 40 % of the total consumed.

To ease energy shortages, the Chinese government stepped up the prospecting and extraction of domestic oil and natural gas resources. Last year alone, the country spent 22.7 bn yuan (about $ 2.7 bn) on the prospecting of oil and natural gas resources, a jump of 20.55 % from the previous year.
Official figures indicate that China has 106.9 bn tons of oil reserves and 53 tcm of natural gas reserves. However, it is estimated that the workable oil deposits are between 13 bn tons and 16 bn tons, while that of natural gas amounts to between 10 to 15 tcm.