PetroChina eyes Southeast and Central Asian energy sources

Oil giant PetroChina plans to diversify its largely domestic sources of crude by moving into Southeast and Central Asia to meet the demand of an increasingly energy-hungry China, China Daily reported Friday.

The company is also looking at acquisition targets in Russia and Africa but will not seek a foothold in Europe or North America where there is a mature and competitive market and PetroChina has no advantages, the China Daily said.

"The overseas goal is not to sprawl to every corner of the world," said PetroChina's chief financial officer Wang Guoliang, "We are mainly looking at developing countries. Compared with them we have advantages in experience and technology."

As a net importer of oil and natural gas since 1993, China has been actively seeking to diversify its energy sources to decrease its reliance on oil from the Middle East. China saw its domestic oil resources begin to taper off in the early 1990s just as its demand for energy increased.

"Domestic production will plateau at about 100 million tons in the coming few years," Wang said, "Overseas production will become the new driving force."

Last year PetroChina made its first overseas investment, acquiring US-based Devon Energy's oil and gas fields in Indonesia for more than US$ 200 million. (*)