China will take many-sided measures to cope with soaring international oil prices, said Wang Tao, senior vice president of the World Petroleum Congress (WPC) and chairman of the Chinese National Committee for WPC at the WPC 1st Youth Forum, Monday.

After breaking the price record of US$50 per barrel at the end of September, the price of crude oil at the New York Futures Exchange rose to more than US$55 per barrel on Friday.

Exploring oil reserves in China by using new technology is the major way for China to meet its rising demand, said Wang. According to Wang, China has rich petroleum reserves; its ascertained oil only accounts for less than 40 percent of what the country is estimated to have.

"Going out to seek more international cooperation in petroleum exploration and development will be of great potential for China," said Wang.

So far, China has signed contracts with companies of 19 countries in the world to explore oil fields.

Alternative energy is another way for China to reduce its demand for oil, said Wang. Natural gas appears to be a good alternative, because China is only using 10 percent of the country 's total reserves.

Though China has rich new and recycled energy sources such as solar energy, wind, hydropower and environmentally friendly energy, its new energy use only accounts for less than 1 percent of its total energy use, said Wang.

Moreover, China will make great efforts to increase its energy use efficiency.

According to recent information from the State Development and Commission, China imported 76 million tons of oil in the first eight months of this year.

(Xinhua News Agency October 19, 2004)