China's largest offshore oil and gas producer has slightly lowered its output target for 2007 after an oil field was damaged by a typhoon. The China National Offshore Oil Corp. said it aims to produce the equivalent of 162 to 170 million barrels of oil this year. The target last year was 168 to 170 million barrels.

The company's oil and gas output objective in Chinese territorial waters is down slightly from last year to 140 to 144 million barrels, but its output objective in international sea areas has risen. The reason for the lower target was the suspension of operations at the Liuhua oil field, which was turning out 21,000 barrels of oil per day before being struck by a typhoon.

Typhoon Pearl struck the South China Sea-based oil field last May, damaging facilities and forcing the company to evacuate more than 3,840 offshore personnel. Prudence dictates that oil companies should not expand their production for the present, as international oil prices have been at a low level since the second half of 2006.

Meanwhile, the company will invest 3.65 billion U.S. dollars in exploiting oil fields, 19 percent up from the 2006 budget. Experts say the increased difficulty of exploitation will add to oil producers' costs. Another 512 million U.S. dollars will go into prospecting, with 75 percent earmarked for projects in Chinese sea areas.

The company said it will put five projects into operation this year, with a total of more than 20 projects to start production in the coming few years to raise output to 190 million barrels in 2008. It will spend more energy on deepwater prospecting and conduct overseas exploration in several major basins, said the company.

Source:未知