Petrochina Rises its Crude Import Volumes

China's top oil producer PetroChina will import some 40 percent of the crude oil it processes in 2007, up from last year's 30 percent, a company official said Saturday.

The company is expected to process 100-120 million tons of crude this year, 10-20 million tons higher than in 2006, said Zhang Hong, a senior official with PetroChina's refining and marketing unit.

This would indicate 40 million to 48 million tons of imports this year for China's top oil and gas producer alone.

In 2006, crude output in PetroChina and its parent China National Petroleum Corp. accounted for nearly 60 percent of China's total.

Analysts and industry experts had said China's reliance on overseas supply is set to rise despite recent major domestic finds including Petrochina's Jidong and Sinopec's Tahe oilfields.