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China to Control Petroleum Consumption
Measures will be taken to control the rapid increase of petroleum consumption in China in a bid to ensure economic and national security amid rocketing international oil prices, the China Securities said Friday, December 15.
Chen Geng, director of the State Administration of Petroleum and Chemical Industries, made the remark at an international conference on the regulatory reform of China's petroleum and natural gas industries.
Chen said there will be three goals for the country's petroleum industry in the next five years, namely, ensuring the stable
growth of domestic crude oil production, accelerating the development and use of natural gas, and promoting the restructuring and technical upgrading of the petrochemical industry.
Chen also said that the country plans to increase its proven oil reserve by four billion tons and crude oil production by 10 million tons in the next five years, mainly by stepping up exploration and exploitation efforts in the western regions and its offshore areas.
While slowing the growth of oil consumption through energy-saving measures, the country shall establish an oil reserve system and use more international oil resources through multilateral trade and setting up overseas oil production bases, the official said.
China's natural gas consumption will be expanded, especially in the economically more developed Yangtze River Delta, the Zhujiang River Delta and Bohai Sea regions, Chen said.
Meanwhile, the country aims to double its natural gas production by 2005 to 50 billion cubic meters, he added.
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