The PetroChina Company Limited, a holding company of the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC),China's largest oil and gas producer, announced record oil and gas output in 2005 on Monday.

In 2005, the company's total oil and gas output amounted to 1.034 billion barrels of oil equivalent, rising by 5.5 percent from a year earlier.

Crude oil output reached 842 million barrels, the highest level since the company's listing in 2000. This represented an increase of 12.80 million barrels, or 1.5 percent from a year ago, marking the largest annual increase in recent years.

PetroChina produced 1,152.2 billion cubic feet of marketable natural gas, representing a rise of 246.6 billion cubic feet, or 27.2 percent, from the previous year.

In 2005, PetroChina made investment in oil and gas exploration a priority and reached several strategic milestones. The company expects to sustain a replacement ratio for crude oil reserves of above 100 percent for the year and its natural gas reserves to continue expanding on a large scale.

PetroChina processed 752 million barrels of crude oil in 2005, representing a rise of 42.50 million barrels, or 6.0 percent from 2004. It produced 21.415 million tons of gasoline, 43.001 million tons of diesel and 1.97 million tons of kerosene, representing an increase of 3.9 percent, 10.4 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively, from a year earlier.

The total number of service stations marked by PetroChina's logo reached 18,164 by the end of 2005, 761 more than the previous year.

PetroChina produced 1.888 million tons of ethylene in 2005, 2.3 percent higher from a year ago and 2.756 million tons of synthetic resin with an annual increase of 8.0 percent.

In 2005, the company made further progress in its key pipeline projects and achieved great successes in the capital operation andmanagement. It established a joint venture with the parent company CNPC to restructure its exploration business overseas.

It completed its first ever H share placement after its listing in 2000. This placement, accounting for two percent of the company's aggregated share capital, raised proceeds close to the size of its initial public offering in 2000, when it floated 10 percent of its shares.

Currently, the company is acquiring shares of its three listed subsidiaries, the Jilin Chemical, Jinzhou Petrochemical and Liaohe Jinma. These acquisitions are expected to significantly resolve internal competition and reduce connected transactions, said a top official with the company.

The CNPC is the controlling shareholder of PetroChina, holding about 88.21 percent of the issued share capital of the company. 
 
(Xinhua News Agency January 17, 2006)