Think the Chinese will cooperate on UN sanctions? Nah, me neither. | BEIJING, Jan 15, 2007 (AFP) - China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), the country's biggest oil producer, will invest 3.6 billion dollars to develop a block in Iran's offshore gas field, state media reported Monday. CNPC is still negotiating with Iran over the details of the project expected to lead to a seven-year deal to develop Block 14 of the South Pars gas field, the China Business News said.
It added the company will invest 1.8 billion dollars on exploration of the block, which is reported to have natural gas reserves of 370 billion cubic meters (1.3 trillion cubic feet). Another 1.8 billion dollars will be used to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant with an annual output of 4.5 million tonnes.
However, Liu Weijiang, a spokesman for CNPC's international business department in Beijing, declined to comment on the report. "CNPC has many subsidiaries and it's normal if they conduct business," said Liu. |