Archive for ‘China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC)’

  |  
25/03/2020

Across China: Largest oilfield revs up production to secure supply

HARBIN, March 24 (Xinhua) — After climbing an iron ladder and mounting a 10-meter-high drilling platform, Ge Yifan, a driller in the Daqing Oilfield, keeps a close eye on the control room screen and uses a microphone to instruct his workmates cleaning mud off the platform.

Ge works in the 1205 Drilling Team in Daqing Oilfield, the country’s largest oil production base in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province.

“Since the oilfield resumed production on Feb. 11, we have been working around the clock to speed up oil production to mitigate the effects caused by the epidemic,” said Zhang Jing, head of the drilling team.

Discovered in 1959, the oilfield has produced about 2.4 billion tonnes of crude oil over the past 60 years. Its overseas business projects have covered 26 countries and regions, with overseas market revenue exceeding 10 billion yuan (around 1.4 billion U.S. dollars) and overseas equity output exceeding 9 million tonnes.

“While fighting against COVID-19, our domestic and overseas colleagues have been making efforts to promote the resumption of oil production to ensure the domestic and global supply,” said Xie Yuxin, manager of the market development department of the Daqing Oilfield of the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).

Since the epidemic outbreak, Daqing Oilfield has taken stringent prevention measures to contain the spread of the deadly virus in the work areas.

Visitors who enter an oil extraction plant on the oilfield production base are asked to get disinfected and have their body temperatures measured at the entrance.

“Start the No. 1 oil pump.” “Roger.” In a dehydration pump room of the plant, the only worker, Wang Zhongying, operates equipment following instructions from the command room.

“We have carried out information technology updates on equipment operations over the past years,” said Zhao Shiqing, a worker of the plant. “It plays a significant role in reducing the gathering of employees during the epidemic.”

“In the fight against COVID-19, everyone is a soldier. We will stick to our posts and make every effort to help secure the global oil supply chain,” said Wang Hongchen, a project manager of Daqing Oilfield of CNPC in Indonesia.

Source: Xinhua

Posted in China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), COVID-19, Daqing Oilfield, Drilling Team, epidemic, Harbin, Heilongjiang province, Indonesia, Largest oilfield, production, revs up, secure, supply, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

24/02/2020

China welcomes ‘encouraging developments’ in South Sudan as rivals form unity government

  • Power-sharing agreement between rebel leader Riek Machar and President Salva Kiir gives hope to ending the conflict
  • Beijing has invested tens of millions of dollars in the country’s oilfields and sent more than 1,000 peacekeeping troops there
Rebel leader Riek Machar (left) and President Salva Kiir greet each other after the swearing-in ceremony at the State House in Juba on Saturday. Photo: AP
Rebel leader Riek Machar (left) and President Salva Kiir greet each other after the swearing-in ceremony at the State House in Juba on Saturday. Photo: AP

Beijing has welcomed “encouraging developments” in the South Sudan peace process after rebel leader Riek Machar and President Salva Kiir agreed to form a transitional coalition government.

Machar, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-In Opposition (SPLM-IO) leader, was among four vice-presidents sworn in on Saturday in the capital, Juba, in a power-sharing deal that gives hope to ending the more than six years of conflict which has killed some 400,000 people and displaced millions more.

“The Chinese side commends and welcomes these encouraging developments, especially the crucial consensus reached between President Kiir and Machar,” the Chinese embassy in Juba said in a statement.

Stability in South Sudan is important for China, which has invested tens of millions of dollars in the country’s oilfields as it seeks to meet energy needs at home. China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) owns a 41 per cent stake in South Sudan’s largest oil consortium, Dar Petroleum Operating Company, while Sinopec, another Chinese state-owned firm, holds a 6 per cent stake.

Stability in South Sudan is important for China, which has major investments in the country’s oilfields. Photo: Reuters
Stability in South Sudan is important for China, which has major investments in the country’s oilfields. Photo: Reuters
China has also sent more than 1,000 troops to the United Nations’ peacekeeping mission in South Sudan, and has not followed the United States and other Western nations in imposing sanctions on leading political and military figures.

“We trust that the relevant parties of South Sudan will resolve the remaining issues in the spirit of mutual trust and understanding, and start a new chapter in the history of South Sudan,” the embassy statement added.

China has offered to help rebuild the country, promising to supply a unified security force that is supposed to be formed from the rival factions as part of the peace process. It has also helped to set up military camps to accommodate both government troops and members of the armed opposition.

Since the peace deal was signed between Kiir and rebel factions in September 2018, China said it had provided diplomatic and other support to military camps and training centres including 1,500 tonnes of rice, 2,500 tents, 50,000 blankets and 1,440 boxes of medicine.

Riek Machar (right) is sworn in as the first vice-president of South Sudan. Photo: AFP
Riek Machar (right) is sworn in as the first vice-president of South Sudan. Photo: AFP
Machar was sworn in as the first vice-president alongside three others – James Wani Igga, Taban Deng Gai and Rebecca Nyandeng. Gai, a former ally of Machar who switched to the government side, was recently sanctioned by the US over serious human rights abuses. Nyandeng is the widow of John Garang, who led a long struggle for independence from Sudan before he died in a helicopter crash in 2005.

“I have forgiven my brother Riek Machar. I also ask for his forgiveness and I also forgive all those who still are holding out on this peace agreement,” Kiir said at a ceremony at the State House attended by regional leaders and diplomats.

After the swearing-in, Machar vowed to work together to end the suffering of South Sudanese.

“I reiterate my commitment to work closely with President Kiir to implement the agreement in letter and spirit,” Machar said.

From Angola to Zambia, China’s African partners brace for coronavirus blow to trade

14 Feb 2020

The South Sudanese have seen more war than peace since the East African nation – whose oilfields contribute about 98 per cent of the government’s revenue – seceded from the Republic of Sudan in 2011. Kiir and Machar formed the independent government but disagreements followed, leading to Machar’s sacking, sparking a bloody war along ethnic lines.

They again agreed to work together in 2015, but the deal fell apart a year later following renewed fighting. After international pressure and peace talks, a new deal was signed in September 2018, but Kiir and Machar have had to push back two deadlines to form the coalition government as they could not agree on issues such as having a unified army and the number of states – highly contentious since it affects the control of oil-rich regions. Machar also wanted his security assured.

On Thursday, Kiir said he had agreed to abolish the 32 states he created in 2015 and revert to the original 10 states.

According to a report released last week on China’s approach to UN peacekeeping in the region, Beijing had used its “economic leverage” in South Sudan.

“China has used its leverage to encourage the government and the opposition parties to negotiate, to come to an agreement, and to implement the ceasefire agreements,” said the report by the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. “It has reportedly used its economic leverage by signalling that it would be unable to renew and expand its support to the South Sudanese government and the economy as long as the fighting was ongoing.”

Africa is a test lab for how China approaches international security and peacekeeping

8 Aug 2019

South Sudan had also provided an opportunity for Chinese soldiers to put their skills to the test on overseas missions and during armed conflict.

“South Sudan became a real-world laboratory [for China] to test the boundaries of its non-interference principle,” the report said.

Obert Hodzi, an international relations lecturer at the University of Liverpool in England, also said earlier that it was a way for China’s military to get the combat experience it needed.

“South Sudan provides ample opportunities for different segments of the Chinese army to practise, test their equipment and ability to conduct successful missions abroad,” Hodzi said.

Source: SCMP

Posted in africa, Angola, ‘encouraging developments’, Beijing, China, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), Dar Petroleum Operating Company, England, form, oilfields, peacekeeping troops, Republic of Sudan, rivals, Sinopec, Uncategorized, United Nations’ peacekeeping mission, unity governmen, University of Liverpool, welcomes, Zambia | Leave a Comment »

  |  
CCChang

Law of Unintended Consequences

continuously updated blog about China & India

ChiaHou's Book Reviews

continuously updated blog about China & India

What's wrong with the world; and its economy

continuously updated blog about China & India