Top Biz News

Russia firm to increase oil supply to China

By Li Fangchao (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-11-11 09:03

Russia's biggest oil exporter to China said on Friday it plans to boost supplies to the country by up to 65 per cent next year, aiming to eventually become the country's largest foreign partner in the energy field.

The Russian State-owned OJSC Rosneft will increase exports of crude oil and oil products to China to 20 million tons next year, up from an expected 12 million tons this year, said company President Sergey Bogdanchikov, who was with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov in China.

The two sides haven't signed a contract yet on the increased supplies, Bogdanchikov said at a news conference after the inauguration of the company's first representative office in Beijing, which he said highlighted China's importance in its global expansion strategy.

The office will supervise the company's ongoing projects in 22 locations in the Asia-Pacific region and launch new projects in the area in the future, he said.

"We can't establish offices in all the places we only choose what we consider as significant enough," he said.

Rosneft is responsible for about 70 per cent of Russia's oil exports to China and almost a quarter of the overall Russian exports to the country in value.

In October, Rosneft and the China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) announced a plan to create a joint venture.

The venture would explore and develop oil in Russia and build a refinery in China with a capacity of 9.59 million tons a year. They also agreed to open as many as 300 filling stations in China, he said. "With our estimate that China's demand for crude oil will double in 2015, we are fully optimistic with the future of the joint venture."

The deal marks the latest tie-up between the companies after the CNPC bought a US$500 million slice of Rosneft's US$10.4 billion mid-year initial public offering.