Chevron and the China National Petroleum Corp. won a bid last weekend to cooperate to develop natural gas in Southwest China`s Sichuan province, local media reports said.
Under the agreement, the two sides would cooperate on the Luojiazhai gas field, which has a high sulfur content, where two serious accidents had happened at the gas field. One incident occurred in December 2003 when the toxic gas blowout killed 243 people and the other in March last year when thousands were evacuated after a gas leak.
Local media reports said CNPC, operator of the field, sought foreign investors last year to develop the field, which boasts a gas reserve of 58.11 billion cubic meters.
CNPC, also the parent company of the New York- and Hong Kong-listed PetroChina, expanded the area covered by the cooperation to four blocks this year.
CNPC hopes the move would attract foreign partners, reports indicated. Chevron won the bid over rivals such as France`s Total, Royal Dutch Shell and Norway`s Statoil, according to Chinese media reports.
Chevron is expected to sign a contract with CNPC to split the total gas output from the fields under their cooperation. CNPC has made no official announcement on the news yet. Luojiazhai would be the third natural gas development project for the CNPC with foreign partners.
Under the agreement, the two sides would cooperate on the Luojiazhai gas field, which has a high sulfur content, where two serious accidents had happened at the gas field. One incident occurred in December 2003 when the toxic gas blowout killed 243 people and the other in March last year when thousands were evacuated after a gas leak.
Local media reports said CNPC, operator of the field, sought foreign investors last year to develop the field, which boasts a gas reserve of 58.11 billion cubic meters.
CNPC, also the parent company of the New York- and Hong Kong-listed PetroChina, expanded the area covered by the cooperation to four blocks this year.
CNPC hopes the move would attract foreign partners, reports indicated. Chevron won the bid over rivals such as France`s Total, Royal Dutch Shell and Norway`s Statoil, according to Chinese media reports.
Chevron is expected to sign a contract with CNPC to split the total gas output from the fields under their cooperation. CNPC has made no official announcement on the news yet. Luojiazhai would be the third natural gas development project for the CNPC with foreign partners.
Via: Monster & Critic
by Andrea Mihailescu
by Andrea Mihailescu
