State oil giant China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) is shooting for a 23 percent rise in its natural gas output in 2007 to meet the country's fast-growing energy demand.

CNPC, the parent of Hong Kong and New York-listed PetroChina , is expected to pump 44 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2006, up 20.5 percent.

The output target for 2007 had been set at 54 billion cubic meters, up 22.7 percent. Its annual output would rise further to 65.8 billion cubic meters in 2010.

CNPC's gas fields in the country's northwest and southwest account for the lion's share of its overall gas output. Production from CNPC's ageing oil fields is sagging and it is counting on natural gas to help drive growth. China, the world's second largest energy consumer, imports more than 40 percent of its oil needs and is boosting natural gas use as part of a drive to cut back its reliance on dirty coal.

It aims to more than double the share of gas in the country's energy mix to 8 percent by 2010.

Source:佚名