Daqing oil field output to remain steady

Daqing Oil Field, which is owned by PetroChina (PTR.NY, 0857.HK, 601857.SH) parent CNPC, has set an annual production target of 40 million tons of crude over the next ten years, Xinhua reported. The northeastern oilfield produced 41.62 million tons of oil in 2007, accounting for 22% of the national total. Crude output for the first five months of this year has reached 16.996 million tons, but only about 100 million tons of recoverable reserves are left in the primary layer. “We will step up innovation and exploration to fulfill the target,” general manager Jiang Jiemin said. He said the field hoped to discover 110 million tons of recoverable oil from now to 2017, at which point he estimated oil production would shrink to 7.3 million tons a year. Daqing oil field, the largest in China, has been under production for 50 years, 27 of which have seen annual crude oil production of more than 50 million tons.