The agreement covers natural gas supplies, reserves and construction of natural gas pipelines.
The Chinese government forecasts domestic natural gas demand will reach 100 billion cubic meters a year by 2010 from around 65 billion cubic meters in 2005 as the country shifts to the cleaner fuel amid strong economic growth.
Chen Tonghai and Fu Chengyu, general managers of Sinopec and CNOOC respectively, signed the agreement May 17 in
The two companies, once rivals, are likely to use their advantages to form an alliance in domestic and overseas investment in natural gas distribution, infrastructure and acquisition of overseas natural gas assets.
Sinopec, the country"s second-largest petroleum company by assets and second largest natural gas producer by output, last year made a big gas find in southwestern
CNOOC is more active than Sinopec in liquefied natural gas imports. Last year, it began operating
CNOOC is also purchasing spot LNG cargoes from the international market, receiving its first-ever imported spot cargo in April.
Both Sinopec and CNOOC are in talks with
PIN/CHINADAILY.COM.CN
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