Energy

PetroChina, Hess sign crude oil accord

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-09-25 11:11

PetroChina Co Ltd, China's largest oil company, will explore crude oil in China in cooperation with Hess Corp, the fifth-biggest US oil company, Bloomberg reported Saturday.

The two parities will work with dense rock in the Daqing oilfield in Northeast China. The site is similar to a gas field in the US where Hess is exploring at present, Jay Wilson, a Hess spokesman, told Bloomberg by telephone on Saturday.

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The shale gas exploration in Daqing oilfield might require horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, which Hess uses in the US, Bloomberg quoting Wilson as saying. Fracturing injects water, sand and chemicals into rock to help release the flow of oil and gas.

The Daqing oilfield, in northern China's Heilongjiang province, has been in production for 50 years.

PetroChina is hoping to sustain productivity of the field for another 50 years with advanced technologies through partnerships with international companies, the Wall Street Journal said.

Hess, based in New York, opened an office in Beijing earlier this year, and is looking for additional exploration and production opportunities in cooperation with Chinese companies, according to Bloomberg.