07 June 2016, Beijing — Chevron corporation’s fully-owned subsidiary Unocal East China Sea will ramp up production in the Luojiazhai and Gunziping gas fields, its biggest investment in China, the firm said on Tuesday.
The company will use all three of its gas trains, with combined outlet capacity of 258 million cubic feet of natural gas per day, after the success of the first stage of the Chuandongbei project, it said.
The development will be carried out in three stages — the first comprising the development of the Luojiazhai and Gunziping gas fields, as well as the construction of the Xuanhan gas processing plant.
The field’s production commenced with the start of the first train in January, after delays due to discrepancies with Chinese partner the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) over how to develop the technically tricky gas fields.
The two companies signed a 30–year production–sharing contract in 2007, aiming to supply 7.6 billion cubic meters (268 billion cubic feet) of gas a year.
The agreement granted Unocal 49 percent interest in the $6.4 billion dollar project and CNPC the remaining stake.
The Chuandongbei project covers over 800 square kilometers in Sichuan Province and the Chongqing Municipality, containing potentially recoverable natural gas resources of 3 trillion cubic feet.
Sichuan province consumed 16.6 billion cubic meters (586 billion cubic feet)of natural gas last year, up by 5.5 percent year on year, the official data shows.
*Kathy Chen – Reuters
