CHINA National Petroleum Corp, the nation's biggest oil producer, plans to spend seven billion yuan (US$910 million) on technology in the five years to 2010 to increase production.

The company will invest in 60 technology programs to provide support to its major operations, including oil exploration and the manufacture of drilling equipment, the state-run China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association said in a statement on its Web site yesterday.

Chinese oil companies are expanding oil production to meet demand in the world's fastest-growing major economy. China National, parent of Hong Kong-listed PetroChina Co, said last month that output from offshore fields may triple by 2010, helped by the discovery of new deposits in Bohai Bay.

Source:佚名