Regional LNG: China?s CNOOC pressing ahead with expansion in LNG: Report

Chinese state-controlled oil company Cnooc Ltd. (CEO) is moving ahead with plans to expand in natural gas, advancing a series of other terminals and projects for liquefied natural gas (LNG), Chairman and Chief Executive Fu Chengyu was quoted by Dow Jones as saying on Tuesday.

Speaking at the Cambridge Energy Research Associates conference in Houston, Fu said the LNG market has developed in China in a very short period. The coming years will see the import of "about 30 million tons each year into the Chinese market."

One of the challenges for the LNG market is how to best compete with coal, which has seen surging demand. But Fu said that's changing also.

"Fortunately, coal production can't continue to grow at current levels," he said. "Additional demand will come from different sources of energy and one is LNG."

Speaking to reporters later, Fu sidestepped questions about whether the company would seek to make acquisitions in the U.S. again after its failed bid to buy Unocal Corp. last year, opting instead to stress the need for the U.S. and China - the two biggest consumers of energy - to cooperate to ensure energy security.

Pressed on the matter, Fu said, eventually critics in "will see we're not any harm to the U.S."

"Overseas we will expand and seek good commercial deals in various regions of the world," he said. (*)