China will see a steady increase in its oil production during the 11th Five Year Program (2006-2010), with the output of crude oil estimated to be between 185 and 195 million tons.

 

The rising momentum will continue till 2020 but China's petroleum consumption will also continue to rise as a result of rising production demand and consumption will hover around 330 million tons and 350 million tons by the late 11th five-year-plan period, said Pan Derun, deputy chairman of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association.

 

According to Pan, the country has discovered 800 million tons and 900 million tons of newly found oil reserves annually since 1984 thanks to continuous technical progress in prospecting.

 

There are now 576 oilfields across the Chinese territory, with 11,300 km of oil pipelines being built.  The country produced 182 million tons of crude oil last year.

 

And the nation imported 126 million tons of crude oil and 31.43 million tons of processed oil in the past year.

 

(Xinhua News Agency May 24, 2006)