CNPC secures control of Canadian oil sands project

The source for this important development is here. Overall, these Chinese movements in the energy sectro shoul dnot be ignored since it is the case that they are trying to make sure that the U.S. will be a good and equal competitor for them.

exploration, pipeline construction and downstream operations.

According to company statements, CNPC said it received rights to explore 11 oil sands blocks in Canada since the beginning of the year.

State media earlier reported that CNPC, the parent of PetroChina, won exploration rights to oil sands in Alberta with exploration operations expected to eventually yield 220,000 barrels of syncrude daily.

The deal marks the first time a Chinese company has secured control of a Canadian oil sands project.

CNPC first set up an exploration and development company in Alberta in 1992, the company said.

"CNPC has been positively cooperating with Canadian firms on the projects including oil sands explorations, pipeline transport as well as oil and gas trading," the company said.


Chile to court Canadian energy firms

Chile is inviting Canadian oil companies to help increase its oil and gas output, Karen Poniachik, Chile's mining minister, said Thursday.

Poniachik said Chile has put up 10 drilling blocks for bid, the Calgary Herald reported.

"This is our first-ever international hydrocarbons bid round and we want Canadian investments in Chile," she said. "We are opening to the world and have signed free-trade agreements with several nations, including China, Japan and South Korea. Only just recently (Canadian Prime Minister) Stephen Harper was in Santiago and he spoke about Canada and Chile being like-minded nations. We need this relationship to grow."

With an annual gross domestic product of 6 percent, Chile is now actively looking for foreign direct investments.

"Chile has been a closed country and things are changing fast there." Poniachik informed that until last month, state-owned Empresa Nacional del Petroleo has signed 21 CEOPs (special operating contracts), the most recent being two contracts with Calgary-based March Resources Corp. that plans to invest $20 million for exploration in the Tamarugal basin.

Gerrit Maureau, president and chief executive of the Calgary-based Canadian Petroleum Institute, said Chile's economic environment is conducive for international investments.

"It is (now) a democratic and stable nation," Maureau was cited as saying in the Calgary Herald. "The economy is growing at a steady pace, and poverty rates have decreased by over 50 percent in the past few years. Also, a literacy rate of 95 percent has meant the creation of a pool of qualified workforce."

He added, "On the very upside and best estimates, the reserve potential could be 500 million barrels and 5.6 TCF."


Sinopec to export Sichuan gas to other parts of China

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec, Asia's top refiner, plans to supply Sichuan natural gas to Guangdong province, Hong Kong and Macau by the end of 2009, its parent, Sinopec Group, said.

The National Development and Reform Commission has approved the plan, the company said.

Sinopec's Puguang Sichuan field had proven reserves of 356 billion cubic meters at the end of 2006, local media reports said.

Output from the field is expected to reach more than 10 bcm at the end of 2008 and 15 bcm by the end of 2009, Sinopec said.

Sinopec Corp. and China National Offshore Oil Corp. have secured an agreement with the Guangdong provincial government to set up a joint venture on natural gas supply and transmission, Sinopec said.

Under the agreement, the joint venture will assume the responsibility of investing and constructing natural gas pipeline networks in Guangdong, Sinopec said.

Sinopec and CNOOC will secure natural gas supply to meet high demand in the southern province using resources both at home and abroad, it said.