SINGAPORE, Nov 29: China’s largest oil and gas producer PetroChina said on Thursday it aimed to reduce crude lifting costs by five per cent in 2002 and boost natural gas sales by 10 per cent.

Chief Financial Officer Wang Guoliang told Reuters by telephone from Beijing that PetroChina’s 2001 profit would take a hit from the sharp downturn in oil prices since mid-September.

“The crude market fall will certainly have downward impact on our profit, and it will be quite a big one,” Wang said.

He said the state oil company had targeted 2002 oil lifting costs at $4.15 per barrel, down from this year’s $4.37.

The reduction in lifting costs was on top of a 9.8 per cent cut in the first half of 2001 compared with the same year-ago period.

PetroChina also aimed to boost gas sales in key markets like Beijing and Sichuan by 10 per cent from this year’s estimate of 14 billion cubic metres (bcm), he said.

Wang said PetroChina, China’s second largest refiner, aimed to maintain a steady operating rate in 2002 at this year’s estimated average of 80 per cent, anticipating a modest but sustained growth in China’s domestic oil demand.

“China’s (2002) oil consumption growth will not be lower than this year, which was estimated at just below four per cent,” he said.

The company has increased refinery utilisation from about 75 per cent in 2000 as it closed down low-efficiency units to boost profitability.

Wang said PetroChina also aimed to bring down unit refining cost next year from this year’s estimate of 137 yuan ($16.5) per tonne. —Reuters