CNPC to spend $22 bln on Xinjiang wells

China

BEIJING, July 25, 2018 – China National Petroleum Corporation plans to invest USD 22 billion in an E&P programme in Xinjiang Autonomous Region in West China to replace declining output elsewhere in the country, international media reported on Wednesday.

The drilling programme, to be carried out through 2020, is designed to compensate for declining production in northeastern China, Reuters reported. It is also meant to spur economic development in the province, home to the restive Turkic Uyghur ethnicity.

“I think that the primary factor is to support the central government policy to invest more and support economic development in the west,” Liutong Zhang of WaterRock Energy Economics told the agency.

“A portion of the money would be spent on the logistics, storage tanks, and also downstream gas infrastructure for the southern part of Xinjiang to use natural gas for environmental reasons.”