China expects sharp rise in oil and gas output

BEIJING - China's combined oil and gas output will exceed 600 million tons of oil equivalent in 2030, due to substantial increases in geological resources in the country's northeastern region.

Oil output is expected to exceed 250 million tons in 2030, with gas output likely reach 450 billion cubic meters, Peng Qiming, director of the geological exploration department at the Ministry of Land and Resources, said Thursday.

Peng said geological oil resources in the country's northeast areas reached 22.5 billion tons at the end of 2011 with recoverable resources standing at 7.2 billion tons, up 5.7 billion tons and 1.3 billion tons, respectively, from 2007.

The areas' geological gas resources jumped 127 percent last year from 2007 levels, he said.

China, one of the world's largest energy users, added 11.22 billion tons of oil reserves and 5.8 trillion cubic meters of gas reserves during the past decade.

The country's annual oil output rose to 203 million tons in 2011 from 160 million tons in 2002, and its gas output increased to 101.3 billion cubic meters last year from 22.9 billion cubic meters ten years ago.