Recoverable reserves in the natural gas field discovered by Husky Energy in the South China Sea last week need further evaluation before being confirmed, sources with China National Offshore Oil Company Limited (CNOOC Ltd) said yesterday.

 

Xiao Zongwei, spokesman for CNOOC Ltd, told Xinhua News Agency that it was still too early for them to announce the discovery of an enormous natural gas field.

 

Canada-listed Husky Energy Inc announced last Wednesday that the Liwan 3-1-1 field identified on block 29/26, a production sharing contract (PSC) block with the CNOOC Ltd in the Pearl River Mouth Basin, was estimated to contain a potential recoverable reserve of 4 to 6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

 

Husky announced on its website that the discovery was one of the largest natural gas discoveries in offshore China.

 

Husky found natural gas in its first well drilled in the block. The recoverable reserve of the possible field can be confirmed only after more wells are drilled and further evaluation studies made, Xiao said.

 

Under the PSC between Husky and CNOOC Ltd signed in 2004, CNOOC Ltd has a stake of up to 51 percent in the development of any discovery.

 

After Husky announced the discovery, CNOOC Ltd witnessed a 12 percent rise in its share price on the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) over two days last week.

 

Husky still has a 100 percent interest in the block and CNOOC Ltd is still a long way from making a decision on whether or how much interest it would take in the development, Xiao said.

 

Further exploration and evaluation, a development plan, and agreement from both sides and the Chinese government on the development plan are still required.

 

Government permission is essential for commercial development, he added.

 

A circular released by CNOOC Ltd on the HKEx on Monday said that hydrocarbon reserves of the discovery needed further evaluation and CNOOC Ltd's decision on whether to exert its investment interests depended on the assessment yet to be made.

 

If confirmed, the discovery, drilled at a depth of 1,500 meters, could be the first significant deep-water gas discovery in offshore China, indicating a possible huge increase in China's oil and gas reserves, according to experts.

 

Incorporated in Hong Kong in August 1999, CNOOC Ltd is a 70.64 percent held subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corporation, China's largest offshore oil and gas producer.

 

(Xinhua News Agency June 21, 2006)