Chinese Production Cut

The plans of China's largest oil field Daqing to slash its output by 2 mln tons this year has triggered protests from local officials who depend on it for revenue, Chinese state media reported.

Daqing, which produced 48.4 mln tons of crude last year, made the decision in accordance with adjustment plans that parent China National Petroleum Corp drafted, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Daqing is owned by PetroChina Co Ltd, the listed unit of China National Petroleum Corp, the country's largest oil group.

Officials in northeastern Heilongjiang province, home to the oil field, are not pleased as the field contributes two-thirds of the provincial revenue, the report said.

Lay-offs and subsequent disputes over severance benefits gave rise to massive protests among oil workers in Daqing in early 2002 in some of the biggest demonstrations anywhere in China in recent years.