According to statistics, today the People's Republic of China ranks third in the world in terms of mineral reserves (about 12% of the world's total). Geologists have confirmed that in the depths of the People's Republic of China there are deposits of ten types of energy resources, forty-six types of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, more than ninety types of non-metallic ores, eight types of precious and rare metals.

Of particular importance for the country are the huge reserves of coal (mainly hard coal), for which it ranks first in the world: the volume of its proven reserves is estimated by geologists at one trillion tons. In addition, China is now the world's largest gold producer (about 430 tons annually).

Features of the relief of China

The relief of China is very diverse, and geographers usually distinguish three main regions on its territory:

• Tibetan Plateau;
• Belt of mountains and high plains;
• Low accumulative plains.

The average altitude of the Tibetan Plateau, located in the southwest of the country, is 4877 meters above sea level, and its total area is 2.5 million square kilometers. In the Tsaidam depression located on it (altitude - from 2700 to 3000 meters above sea level) there are large deposits of iron ore, coal and oil.

The belt of mountains and high plains is located to the north, northeast and northwest of the Tibetan Plateau. A large oil field has been explored in its western part, and deposits of iron ore and coal have been discovered in the southern part. Low accumulative plains are located in the eastern part of China and make up about 10% of the total area of ​​its territory. They are composed of sediment from large and small rivers.

Types of minerals in China

The People's Republic of China has almost all types of mineral resources. In this country, large deposits of hard coal have been explored and are being actively developed (the volume of its annual production is more than 3,500 million tons), and very significant volumes of oil.

In addition, China has very significant shale deposits, and therefore it is planned that in the near future the country will become one of the leading producers of shale gas (the Chinese plan to increase its production volume to 100 billion cubic meters annually by 2020).

Resources and deposits of China

The main coal deposits in China are located in the provinces of Shaanxi (30% of total production), which is often called the “home of coal” in China.

There are currently about 300 oil fields in this country, and most of them are located in Shandong province (Shengli field), Heilongjiang (Daqing field), in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (Hadesun field), as well as in some other areas of the country ( including on its continental shelf).

The largest iron ore deposit (Anshan) is located in Liaoning province. As for non-ferrous metal ores, the largest deposit of copper ore (Dengxing) is located in Jiangxi Province. In the same region, rich deposits of tungsten ores were discovered.

CHINA, People's Republic of China (Chinese Zhonghua renmin gongheguo) is a state in central and eastern China. Area 9.6 million km2. Population (including the island of Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong) 1032 million people. (1982). The capital is Beijing. The official language is Chinese. The monetary unit is the yuan. China is a member of the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

General characteristics of the farm. National income in 1982 at current prices was 424.7 billion yuan. In the structure of national income, 42.2% comes from industry, 44.6% from agriculture, 4.6% from capital construction, 3.1% from transport and 5.5% from trade. The largest share in the sectoral structure of China's industry is occupied by mechanical engineering (22%), chemical (11.8%), textile (15.5%) and food (13.6%) industries. The share of mining industries is about 7%. China is a major exporter of mineral raw materials. In the structure of the fuel and energy balance in 1982 (in terms of consumption) it accounted for 73.9%, oil - 18.7%, - 2.6%, hydroelectricity - 4.8%. Electricity production 327.7 billion kWh (1982). The length of railways is 50.5 thousand km (of which 1.8 thousand km are electrified), roads 907 thousand km, inland waterways 108.6 thousand km. Main seaports: Shanghai, Tianjin with Xingang, Dalian, Guangzhou with Huangpu, Zhanjiang.

Nature. The territory of China is characterized by complex orography and significant elevation amplitudes. Three regions are clearly distinguished: the Tibetan Plateau and the surrounding mountains in the southwest, the belt of Central Asian plains and plateaus, stretching from west to east north of Tibet, the region of the low-lying plains of eastern China with the outlying mountains. The Tibetan Plateau is a complex of vast Jangtang plains, endorheic plateaus of Central Tibet, and a number of internal ridges. The plateau is framed by high mountain systems: in the south and west - the Himalayas and Karakoram, in the north and east - the Kunlun, Nanshan and Sino-Tibetan mountains. Between Kunlun and Nanshan there is a vast tectonic Tsaidam depression, the bottom of which is located at an altitude of about 2700 m. The relief of China is characterized by rounded peaks, flat watersheds, and highly dissected slopes; Karst forms are common.

The belt of Central Asian plains and plateaus includes the Tarim and Dzungarian plains, separated by the ridges of the eastern Tien Shan, the Turfan depression, the plains and plateaus of the Gashun Gobi, Alashan and Ordos, separated from each other by the Beishan, Alashan and Inshan mountains, the plains of the eastern Gobi and Bargi. The predominant heights here are around 1200 m; the bottom of the Turfan depression lies below sea level (-154 m). The region of the lowland plains of eastern China stretches from north to south mainly along the coast of the Yellow Sea and includes the lowlands of Sanjiang, North Hanka, Songliao, Great Chinese Plain, the plain of the lower and middle reaches of the Yangtze River basins and areas along the sea coast and along river valleys. The plains are framed by marginal mountains; Zhehe, Yanshan, Taihanshan, Nanling, Yunnan, partly Khingan and Manchu-Korean mountains.

In the western part of China the climate is sharply continental, temperate, on the Tibetan Plateau it is cold (the average January temperature is from -10 to -25°C). Precipitation on the plains and plateaus is 50-250 mm per year; snow cover does not form. In the eastern part of China the climate is monsoonal, north of the Qinling Mountains - temperate, between the Qinling and Nanling Mountains - subtropical, in the southern provinces of the country - tropical. The average January temperature is from -24°C in the north, to 10°C in the south, precipitation from 400 - 800 mm in the north to 2000-2500 mm or more in the south; maximum - in summer. The network of high-water rivers is widely developed. There are numerous waterfalls in the highlands. The largest rivers in the world include the Yangtze, Yellow River, and Xijiang. They have a monsoon regime with summer floods and are used mainly for irrigation and navigation. There are numerous small lakes, including closed lakes with salt water. The plains of the eastern part of the country are mostly cultivated; forests remain in the mountains (occupying about 8% of China's territory): mixed and temperate conifers in the north, broad-leaved subtropical and multi-tiered tropical in the south. In the west and northwest, deserts (Taklamakan, Gobi, etc.), semi-deserts and steppes predominate. Deflationary relief forms - yardangs - are developed here. The Tibetan Plateau mainly has high mountain steppes and cold rocky steppes.

Geological structure. On the territory of China are located the ancient Chinese (total area of ​​4.3 million km 2) and its folded frame. The platform consists of three megablocks, often considered as independent platforms: , and Tarim. Their Early Precambrian crystalline basement is composed of various metamorphic rocks (, migmatites, metamorphic schists, quartzites, etc.) and reaches the surface within the Sino-Korean shield and a number of massifs. The basement of the Tarim and South China megablocks also includes Late Precambrian (age up to 700 million years) metamorphic formations.

. Hydrogeologically, the territory of China is divided into eastern (inland drainage area) and western (drainage basin) parts.

In the area of ​​inland drainage, a number of closed artesian structures are distinguished, unloading as a result of evaporation. A sporadic horizon of fractured groundwater forms in the bedrock surrounding the depressions. The flow rates of the springs are below 1 l/s and only in zones of tectonic disturbances increase to 5-20 l/s. In river valleys, the aquifer of Quaternary sediments is of great importance. Well depth is from 2 to 30 m, flow rates are from 1 to 20 l/s. Water mineralization is up to 1 g/l, the composition is calcium bicarbonate. In the internal parts of artesian basins, the main aquifers (at a depth of 1-15 m) are represented by Pliocene and Quaternary proluvial and alluvial sediments. Flow rates (l/s) of springs up to 10-15, wells 5-10, wells 10-60. Fresh (0.5-1 g/l) hydrocarbonate-calcium waters are developed in the peripheral parts of the basins and in the riverbed parts of river valleys. As you approach the central parts of the basin, the waters become brackish and then saline.

In the mountain-fold structures of the Pacific Ocean drainage basin area, aquifer complexes of carbonate rocks of different ages are of greatest importance. The flow rates of springs, depending on the degree of karstification, vary from 1-2 to 2000 l/s, sometimes reaching 10,000 l/s. The zone of surface fracturing of non-carbonate rocks is associated with springs with flow rates of 1-3 l/s, in zones of tectonic disturbances up to 5-10 l/s. Water mineralization is below 1 g/l, the composition is hydrocarbonate-calcium. In the interior parts of the artesian basins of eastern China, the main fresh groundwater resources are confined to Quaternary sediments of various origins. Flow rates (l/s) of wells are 8-10, wells up to 60, specific 5-10. Water mineralization is 0.3-0.8 g/l, composition is carbonate-calcium-sodium.

In the North China Basin (area about 200 thousand km 2, alluvium thickness up to 1000 m), natural resources are estimated at 3.10 9 m 3 /year.

China's initial total recoverable oil resources on land are estimated at 10-15 billion tons, of which about 4 billion tons have been explored and more than 1.3 billion tons have been extracted. China's shelf oil resources are estimated at 4 billion tons. Their development is almost just beginning. Small fields were discovered in western Bohaiwan, and commercial flows of oil and gas were obtained in the South China Sea. Proven gas reserves do not exceed 1 trillion. m 3. More than 75% of proven oil reserves are concentrated in the east, in the Songliao and North China basins, 25% are in Central and Western China (Pre-Nanshan, Tsaidam and Dzungarian basins). On the territory of China, there are more than 50 sedimentary basins with a total area of ​​about 5 million km 2, filled with Upper Proterozoic-Paleozoic marine and Mesozoic-Cenozoic predominantly continental lacustrine-fluvial sediments. Commercial oil and gas potential has been established in 20 basins and more than 160 oil fields and 60 gas fields have been discovered. The main oil and gas complexes are Mesozoic and Cenozoic. At a depth of up to 1 km there are 23%, 1-3 km - 58% and 3-5 km - 19% of the initial total recoverable oil and gas resources. The largest oil field in China is Daqing, with recoverable proven reserves in the Lower Cretaceous deposits of at least 1.5 billion tons. The bulk of gas fields have been discovered in Central China (there are 60 fields in the Sichuan basin with reserves of 0.8-1 trillion m3) .

In terms of coal reserves, KHP ranks 3rd in the world after CCCP and the USA. See map.

The reserves have not been precisely established. According to official data, they amount to more than 781.5 billion tons, of which about 250 billion tons are explored: 97% of the reserves are represented by stone, often (the basin of the Great Chinese Plain, or the Great Yellow River basin, the Yangtze, Ganjiang, Datong, Hegang-Shuangyashan basins , Urumqi, Turfan-Hami, etc.). Most of the coal deposits in the northern part are of Carboniferous age, and those in the south are of Upper Permian age; basins of Triassic age are known in the southwest of China (Xiaguan basin), basins of Jurassic age are known in Northern and Southern China (Ganjiang, Jixi, Tonghua, Lanzhou-Xining, Urumqi, etc. basins). Cenozoic coals are common along the Pacific coast and the northeastern part of the country. Hard coals are characterized by: lower calorific value of 27-30 MJ/kg, significant fluctuations in ash content from 3.6 to 43%, volatile yield from 3% (Daqingshan deposit) to 43% (Xiaguan). Hard coals are represented by all types: from fatty (Daqingshan) to anthracite (Shanxi, Jingxing, etc.). The largest basin of coking coals and anthracites is the basin of the Great Chinese Plain (Great Yellow River Basin), in the Yangtze-Yang He interfluve, composed of Permian coal-bearing deposits. The central part of the basin has been studied very poorly; along its periphery there are 14 large coal-bearing areas, including Jingxing, Fengfeng, Pingdingshan, Huainan, Huaibei, Kailuan, etc. The number of coal seams ranges from 5-7 (Fengfeng, Huaibei) to 20 (Kailuan ), sometimes 47 (Pingdingshan). The reserves of each region are estimated at 2-3 billion tons. In the northeast of China there is the Hegang-Shuangyashan coking coal basin, composed of Permian and Jurassic coal-bearing strata containing up to 10 working seams with a total thickness of up to 75 m (reserves up to 5 billion tons ). In the north of the country there is a large Ordos coal basin, composed of Permian and Jurassic coal-bearing strata. The basin's reserves exceed 10 billion tons of high-quality coking coal. In the south are the large basins of Tanxing and Sichuan. There are 18 deposits in the Tansin basin (each with reserves of more than 1 billion tons). The number of working coal seams is about 50. In the Sichuan basin there are three coal-bearing regions: Chongqing, Minjian and Chengdu with total reserves of more than 10 billion tons. The number of coal seams is up to 5 with a thickness of 2-4 m. In the extreme west and northwest there are small the Turpan-Hami and Urumqi basins, as well as the unexplored Aksu Kucha and Tarim basins of Jurassic age. Each of the basins includes several deposits of hard and sometimes coking coals.

Brown coal deposits (about 3% of proven reserves) are confined mainly to Neogene coal-bearing strata; Jurassic brown coal deposits are Zhalaynor in the north, Maoming in the south, and Paleogene deposits are Fushun in the northeast of the country. Characteristics of coals: lower calorific value 8.5-10.5 MJ/kg, ash content from 5 to 10%, volatile yield 25-60%. The number of working layers is from 2 to 11 with a thickness of 1.5-20 m (Zhalaynor). About 10 million hectares are occupied by swamps (containing 30 billion m 3 of peat). About 1 million hectares of wetlands are concentrated in the northern part of China. Bogs usually contain a surface layer of peat less than 1 m thick.

Iron ore deposits are located mostly in the northeastern and northern regions. The share of ferruginous quartzites accounts for 25%, skarn and hydrothermal ores - 23%, sedimentary ores (such as red oolitic iron ores) - 39%, igneous ores - 2% and other types - 11%. The largest reserves of ferruginous quartzites have been identified in the Anshan-Benxi, Luanxian, Wutai and Guodian-Yiyuan iron ore regions, in the Xuefengshan and Tiatunbo and Xinyu-Pingxiang deposits in Hunan Province. The ore stratum (thickness from 100 to 300 m) usually includes 4-6 layers of ferruginous quartzites containing 28-34% Fe, and in lenses of rich ores up to 49-56% Fe. The main ore mineral is magnetite. High-grade ores make up 13-18% of the reserves of large deposits. Hydrothermal and contact-metasomatic deposits are known in many regions of China. The Bayan Obo magnetite-rare earth deposit (Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region) is of great importance. Four lens-shaped ore bodies (thickness 200-250 m, length up to 1.3 km) are composed of magnetite, hematite, in the oxidation zone with martite, rare earth minerals and fluorite. In rich ores the Fe content is more than 45%, in medium ores - 30-45% (60% of reserves) and in poor ores - 20-30%. The content of rare earth elements is about 8%. The hydrothermal type includes the Shilu deposits (Hainan Island) and the Maanshan group of deposits (Anhui Province). Contact-metasomatic deposits include the Dae group (Hubei province), Teshanzhang (Guangdong province), etc. In the Dae group (reserves of about 1 billion tons), the most typical Teshan deposit is formed by several lenticular extended bodies (thickness 10-120 m), in which contains 54-57% Fe, 0.5-0.6% Cu and 0.03% Co. Sedimentary deposits are widespread throughout China and are confined to various parts of the stratigraphic section: from the Upper Proterozoic to the Paleogene. Most of these ores contain 40-60% Fe and are composed predominantly of oolitic hematites, less often siderite and limonite. Upper Proterozoic deposits (Xuanlong subtype) are common in Northern China and are formed by 2-3 horizons of oolitic ores several meters thick (Longyan deposit); Upper Devonian deposits (Ningxiang subtype) are typical of central and southwestern China and are composed of several layers of oolitic ores 1-2 m thick (Jianshi deposit); Middle Carboniferous deposits (Shanxi subtype) in the provinces of Shanxi and Shandong are represented by numerous deposits of irregular shape.

The ores are composed of hematite and limonite (Fe content 40-50%). Lower Jurassic deposits (Qijiang subtype) are known in the provinces of Sichuan and Guizhou and are represented by sheet-like deposits composed of hematite and siderite (Fe content 30-50%). Igneous vanadium-containing ilmenite-magnetite deposits (Panzhihua, Damiao, Heershan, etc.) are represented by lenses of disseminated ores in gabbroic rocks.

Manganese ore deposits are located in different provinces of the country. Almost all deposits are confined to sedimentary deposits of the Upper Proterozoic, Devonian, Carboniferous and Permian or to modern weathering crusts. The main deposits of the Upper Proterozoic age: Wafangzi, Linyuan, Jinxian and others (Liaoning Province), Xiangtan (Hunan Province) and Fancheng (Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region). In the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the Devonian deposits of Mugui, Laibin and others are known. The deposits are represented by layers of carbonate ores with a thickness of about 2 m (Mn content 15-20%) and layers of boulder ores in the weathering zone of the deposits with a thickness of up to 4 m, composed of psilomelane and braunite (Mn content 27-35%). Rich oxide ores with a Mn content of 25 to 40% are confined to the oxidation zone (Xiangtan, Zunyi, etc.).

The identified titanium ore reserves are associated with large igneous deposits of Panzhihua, Taihechan, Heershan (Sichuan Province), Damiao (Hebei Province) and ilmenite-rutile placers (Guangdong Province). Titanium-magnetite deposits are represented by small lenses of massive and disseminated vanadium-containing ilmenite-magnetite ores in massifs of basic and ultrabasic rocks. In rich massive ores the content of Fe is 42-45%, TiO 2 10-11%, V 2 O 5 0.3-0.4%; in poor disseminated - Fe 20-30%, TiO 2 6-7%, V 2 O 5 0.2%. In ilmenite and rutile placers (Baoting, Xinglong, Kenlong, etc.), the thickness of industrial sands is 4-5 m, the ilmenite content is 40-50 kg/m 3.

Reserves of chrome ores have not been explored enough. The country knows a large number of relatively large massifs of ultramafic rocks of dunite-harzburgite composition, located within the extensive folded belts of the Caledonides, Variscides and Alps of northern and western China, forming intermittent strips up to 1500 km long. Small bodies of massive or densely disseminated ores (Cr 2 O 3 content 28-47%) are confined to the dunite areas of these massifs. Main deposits: Solunshan, Hegeaola, Hada (Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region). In the chromite region (Qiliangshan Range), small deposits of Xitsa (Gansu Province), Sancha, and Shaliuhe (Qinghai Province) have been explored among dunites. The content of Cr 2 O 3 is 33-48%, sometimes up to 58%. Industrial deposits of chrome ores Dongqiao and Dzedan have been identified in Tibet. In the north-west of the country, in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Saltokhai deposit was discovered with a Cr 2 O 3 content of 35% in the ores.

Significant reserves of aluminum raw materials are represented by bauxite, alunite and aluminous shales. Of the bauxite deposits (Paleozoic and Mesozoic age), the most important are the deposits of Carboniferous age (Zibo, Gongxian, Boshan, Xiuwen - Shandong Province and the Kunming Group), confined to the margins of coal-bearing basins and lying at the base of coal-bearing strata. Most bauxites are of high quality: Al 2 O 3 content is 50-60%. The second source of aluminum is alunite, the most important deposits of which are Fanshan (Zhejiang Province), Lujiang (Anhui Province), Taipei (Taiwan Island) and others are characterized by large reserves (Al 2 O 3 content 26%, K 2 O 6.6%). The reserves of aluminous shales (Al 2 O 3 content 45-70%, SiO 2 19-35%) are very significant: the Yantai, Liaoyang, Benxi, Fuxian deposits (Liaoning Province), many deposits in Guangdong Province.

Or with cassiterite and wolframite (Lianhuashan, Guangdong Province) are characterized by a WO 3 content of 0.3 to 0.7%.

Gold deposits come in a variety of genetic types; The gold deposits themselves are numerous, but their reserves are small. The main reserves are associated with large porphyry copper deposits, complex ores of which contain 0.1-0.5 g/t gold. Placer deposits are of great importance in the provinces of Heilongjiang, Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi, and Hunan. Silver is present in polymetallic and sometimes in porphyry copper ores. Its content ranges from several to 10-20 g/t, rarely more.

In China, about 600 deposits and occurrences of copper ores are known, mainly belonging to pyrite, porphyry copper, magmatic (copper-nickel), hydrothermal and skarn types. Cuprous sandstones are of subordinate importance. Copper pyrite deposits (Baiinchang, Gansu Province) are characterized by the following contents: Cu 0.4-2%, S 40-48%, Pb up to 1%, Zn up to 2%, Au 1 g/t, Ag 10-16 g/t T. Copper-nickel deposits are characterized by Cu contents of about 0.5%, Ni 1% (deposits Limahe, Sichuan province; Taok, Shandong province; Boshutaizi, Jinchuan, Gansu province, etc.). Among the hydrothermal vein deposits, the most important are the deposits of the Dongchuan and Yimin groups (Yunnan Province). Ores from deposits of this type contain 0.3-1.9% copper. Among the skarn deposits, the largest are Tongguanshan, Shouwangfen, as well as the Dae group of copper-iron ore deposits. Cu content is from 0.6 to 2.3%, sometimes Co is present. The largest porphyry copper deposits are Dexing (Jiangxi Province), Zhongtiaoshan (Shanxi Province) and Erdaocha-Tonghua (Liaoning Province). Their ores contain: Cu 0.6-1.0%, Mo 0.01%, Au up to 1 g/t, Ag 10-12 g/t. China has significant reserves of molybdenum ores. The main deposits belong to the skarn and hydrothermal (vein-disseminated and vein) types. The Yangjiazhangzi skarn deposit (Liaoning Province) is the largest in China. Its ores contain 0.14% Mo, in some areas lead, zinc, and in others silver. Vein-disseminated (molybdenum-copper-porphyry) deposits of Zhongtiaoshan and others are known. Among the vein deposits of Shizhengou (Girin Province), Xihuashan (Jiangxi Province) and others, molybdenum and molybdenum-tungsten deposits themselves stand out (Mo content 0.1-0.3 %, WO 3 0.1-0.4%).

The first nickel ore deposits were discovered in China in the late 1950s. Several dozen deposits are known. The most important deposits belong to the igneous (liquation), hydrothermal types and weathering crusts. The copper-nickel deposits of Limahe and others (Sichuan Province), Taok (Shandong Province), Jinchuan, Boshutaizi (Gansu Province) and others are characterized by a Ni:Cu ratio of 1:1 to 2:1. In addition to nickel and copper, platinum group metals are usually present. Hydrothermal deposits include the deposit of the five-element formation (Cu - Ni - Bi - Ag - U) of Guizihada (Sichuan Province) and the sheet-like bodies of veinlet-disseminated copper-nickel ores - the Yimin group (Yunnan Province), Wangbaoben (Liaoning Province). The ores of such deposits are usually complex and contain (%): Ni 0.6-2.5; Cu 0.8-1.3, as well as Mo, Bi, Pb, Ag, Cd. In iron-nickel deposits of weathering crusts (Mojiang in Yunnan province, etc.), the Ni content is about 1%, the Ni:Co ratio is (8-16):1.

Among the numerous tin ore deposits of different genesis, tin placers are of primary importance (70% of reserves), with a sharply secondary role of skarns, veins and other formations. Of primary importance is the province of Yunnan, where on an area of ​​about 100 km 2 there are known primary and placer deposits (Gejiu region), containing up to 50% of the country's tin reserves. The main ore mineral is cassiterite. Primary ores of skarn and hydrothermal types contain 0.5-5%, sometimes 10% tin, as well as copper, in

In less than a decade, China has emerged as one of the world's largest gas markets and a major importer of LNG. Part of the gas supply is provided by domestic production, while part is imported into the country via pipelines and through LNG terminals.

Coal remains the main source of Chinese electricity generation. According to official data, in 2014, 64.2% of the country's electricity was generated from coal-fired power plants. The government has promised to reduce the share of coal to 62% by 2020. By this time, the contribution of gas to electricity generation will exceed 10%, which is significantly higher than the 6% share registered in 2014. Industry is the main consumer of gas in China. Other consumers are the residential sector, electricity generation and transport.

China relies heavily on oil and gas imports, and its dependence on both fuels has increased sharply in recent years. The country has several main cross-border pipelines through which gas comes from Central Asian countries and Myanmar. China is also building a pipeline in the northeast that should begin importing Russian gas from eastern Siberia by the end of this decade.

China is the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, and the country's leaders have promised that carbon emissions will peak by 2030, although many expect it to happen sooner. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, China will have to use much more renewable energy and gas. Renewable energy sources are expected to play an important role in China's electricity supply over the next few decades. The government has committed to bringing the share of non-fossil fuel sources to 20% by 2030.

As the cleanest fossil fuel, gas will undoubtedly play an important role in China's future energy supply, and this will increase demand for LNG. Both state-owned oil companies and independent firms are building a number of new import terminals in the country. The country is also seeking to expand domestic production, with a particular focus on shale gas and deepwater fields. China's recoverable shale gas reserves are estimated to exceed 25 trillion cubic meters.

Statistics

Over the past 10 years, natural gas production in China has more than tripled. Today, China is one of the largest producers of natural gas in the world. The development of offshore fields and unconventional reserves means that gas production in China will continue to grow.

Over the past decade, gas consumption in China has grown very quickly. Until 2008, production and consumption were approximately equal, but in 2008 consumption began to exceed production by significant amounts, and China became one of the world's largest gas importers.

Gas demand growth slowed in 2015 due to a general slowdown in economic growth and unfavorable market conditions for gas. Despite falling prices, LNG imports are expected to decline this year as LNG has to compete with pipeline supplies from Central Asia.

China uses gas in many different ways. Almost half of all gas used is used for heating residential and industrial facilities, while electricity generation ranks third on the list of possible uses. Significant volumes of gas are also used in the energy industry and as a feedstock for the petrochemical industry.

Domestic companies

China's three state-owned oil companies have gained a foothold in the gas distribution sector, gaining control over all gas supplies and a virtual monopoly on the domestic gas market. Previously, these three companies had secured a virtual monopoly over gas exploration and production projects and over the import and transportation of gas through pipelines.

China National Petroleum Corp.

China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) is a state-owned oil and gas company. While its focus is on developing domestic resources, the company has a significant portfolio of international investments and projects in 29 countries around the world.

The company divides its activities into six main areas. The first direction is the exploration and production of oil and gas, processing, transportation and trade in these types of fuel. Other areas of activity include engineering and design services, geophysical exploration methods and the production of drilling and rescue equipment. Capital control and regulation, financial and insurance services are a separate area of ​​activity. The last direction is the development of a new energy base, the central task of which in turn is the development of unconventional reserves and the introduction of technologies for the use of renewable energy sources.

The company has entered into a number of joint ventures with major international oil companies to develop deposits in China itself, particularly in coalbed methane and shale gas reserves.

Sinopec

Sinopec is China's largest manufacturer and supplier of light petroleum products and refined petroleum products. This is an integrated (diversified) oil company operating in many areas - from exploration to sales of refined products, from fuel transportation to import-export operations.

Sinopec is listed on Chinese and international stock exchanges, but is controlled and financed by the Chinese government. The company is developing five exploration and production projects designed to increase production. These projects are Shengli Oil Field, Tarim Basin, Ordos Basin, Sichuan Basin, and unconventional oil and gas reserves.

China National Offshore Oil Corp.

China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) is developing four key areas in Bohaiwang, East China Sea, eastern and western South China Sea. Bohaiwan is considered the most important oil production site, with a reserve replacement rate of 101.8% and significant expansion potential.

The company has entered into a number of production sharing agreements with foreign partners to develop offshore oil and gas fields. The company also owns interests in oil and gas fields in Indonesia, Australia, Nigeria, the USA and Canada.

LNG terminals

Beihai LNG Terminal

The Beihai Terminal, with a stated capacity of 3 million t/y, located in the Guangxi Autonomous Region, received its first cargo arriving on the BW Pavilion Vanda LNG carrier on March 27, 2016. The gas carrier completed mooring at the terminal pier on March 28 and began transferring cargo on April 1. The cargo arrived from the Australia Pacific gas liquefaction plant, with which Sinopec signed an agreement to purchase 7.6 million tons of LNG per year.

LNG terminal "Caofeidian-Tangshan"

PetroChina's third LNG terminal supplies gas to Beijing and Tianjin. Gas is supplied through the 312 km Yongqing-Tangshan-Qinhuangdao pipeline, which connects to the Shaan Jing pipeline network supplying Beijing. The company has plans for a second stage of the project, which will increase regasification capacity to 6.5 million t/a, and a third stage, which will increase capacity to 10 million t/a.

Dalian LNG terminal

PetroChina's second LNG terminal is connected to the Northeast Gas Pipeline Network to supply gas to consumers in China's northeastern regions. The first test cargo was received from Qatar in November 2011.

The terminal's capacity has been expanded to 6 million t/a, up from a capacity of only 3 million t/a at launch. Today, the volume of gas supplied from the terminal is 8.5 billion cubic meters/year.

The terminal will receive LNG under contracts signed by PetroChina with QatarGas 4 and the Australian Gorgon LNG project.

The terminal was the first of China's LNG terminals to offer the service of breaking a large cargo into smaller ones, loading small ships to deliver LNG along the coast.

Dapheng LNG Terminal

Dapheng is China's first LNG terminal and is part of a larger infrastructure project that included the construction of a natural gas pipeline, four liquefied natural gas power plants, the conversion of an oil-to-gas power plant, and shipbuilding projects.

The terminal's initial capacity was 3.7 million t/a and was later expanded to 6.8 million t/a.

Since November 2007, the terminal has also provided tanker loading services.

The Dapheng terminal receives LNG from the third stage of the QatarGas project and from the Australian North-West Shelf project. About two-thirds of imported gas is used to generate electricity, while the rest is supplied to the residential sector.

Dongguan LNG terminal

This is the first LNG terminal owned by private companies. His work began with the purchase of a cargo of 36 thousand tons of LNG from the Malaysian company Petronas, which was delivered on September 17, 2013. The contract for the second batch of LNG imports was concluded by the terminal in March 2014 with delivery in May. The cargo was delivered by a vessel with a capacity of 76 thousand cubic meters (35 thousand tons). The terminal is equipped with two storage tanks with a capacity of 80 million cubic meters each, as well as a number of smaller tanks, bringing the total storage capacity to 170 million cubic meters. The terminal also has storage tanks for 132 thousand cubic meters of petroleum products and 125 thousand cubic meters of petrochemicals. According to terminal operator Jovo, the terminal's berth can accommodate ships with a displacement of about 50 thousand tons or 80 thousand cubic meters.

Hainan LNG terminal

Construction of the plant began in August 2011. The 114 km pipeline, with a capacity of 13.8 billion cubic meters, supplies gas from a terminal in the Hainan network. There are also plans to build a pipeline across the Huinan Strait to Guangdong.

The terminal received its first cargo in August 2014. The gas was delivered on the Rasheeda LNG tanker with a capacity of 210 million cubic meters. The facility is the second such terminal in China and has the ability to distribute large cargoes of fuel into smaller ones, loading smaller vessels for deliveries along the coast.

Ningbo-Zhejiang LNG terminal

China National Offshore Oil Corp.'s fourth LNG terminal, also China's sixth LNG terminal overall, supplies gas to Zhejiang's gas distribution networks. The LNG supply contract was signed with the QatarGas 3 project.

The second phase of development involves expanding the terminal’s capacity to 6 million t/year.

Putian-Fujian LNG terminal

The country's second LNG terminal, Putian, was created to alleviate energy shortages in Fujian province. The terminal received its first cargo in April 2008, but commercial operation of the facility began only in February 2009. The terminal's receiving capacity was expanded from 2.6 million tons/year to 5.2 million tons/year, and then to 6.3 million tons. /G. The resulting LNG is mainly sold to power plants and gas distribution companies in the surrounding regions.

The main source of supply is the Indonesian Tangguh gas liquefaction plant. LNG from the terminal is supplied to power plants and gas distribution companies in the cities of Putian, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Quanzhou and Zhangzhou in Fujian Province.

Qingdao-Shandong LNG terminal

The Qingdao terminal is Sinopec's first LNG terminal. Gas from the terminal will be supplied to the port of Dong Jia Khou and Shandong province through a 440 km pipeline.

The first gas was delivered in November on board the LNG tanker Maran Gas Coronis, which arrived from the Atlantic LNG plant in Trinidad. The LNG tanker arrived on November 14, 2014, and began sending LNG ashore on November 18. Regasified LNG began flowing into city gas supply pipes on December 3.

The first cargo under the long-term contract was delivered to the terminal on December 13 on board the Gaslog Chelsea, arriving from the PNG LNG plant. Sinopec has signed a contract with the ExxonMobil-operated plant for annual supplies of 2.5 million tons of LNG.

The terminal's initial capacity of 3 million t/y was expanded to 6.1 million t/y when construction of the fourth storage tank was completed in September 2015.

LNG terminal "Rudong-Jiangsu"

The Rudong terminal is PetroChina's first LNG terminal, and the fourth in China overall. It received its first cargo from Qatar in May 2011, and began commercial operations in November of the same year. Deliveries to this terminal marked the first time that LNG tankers of the Q-flex and Q-max classes arrived in China.

Gas from the terminal either enters the West-East pipeline network, through which it reaches the eastern and central regions of China, or is transported by tanker truck to hard-to-reach areas in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

At the beginning of 2016, the terminal's capacity was increased to 6.5 million t/year. Its initial capacity was 3.5 million t/y, and long-term plans include expanding capacity to 10 million t/y.

Terminal operator PetroChina has signed a 25-year LNG supply contract with Qatargas 4.

LNG terminal in Shanghai

The terminal received its first cargo in October 2009 and signed a 25-year contract to purchase 3 million tons of LNG per year from Malaysia. Deliveries began in 2011. The resulting gas is supplied to the Shanghai region.

Floating storage and regasification unit "Tianjin"

China's first floating storage and regasification facility supplies gas to Tianjin and Beijing. CNOOC plans to expand this facility into the largest LNG storage center in the Beihai Economic Zone, with 12 LNG storage tanks with a capacity of 160 thousand cubic meters each.

Zhuhai-Jinwan LNG terminal

The second LNG terminal, built in the southern province of Guangdong, is operated by CNOOC. The terminal received its first cargo in October 2013. Gas from the Zhuhai-Jinwan terminal will be sent to four cities - Guangzhou, Foshan, Zhuhai and Jiangmen - through a 291 km pipeline. There are plans to expand the terminal's capacity to 11.87 million t/year.

A large oil field has been discovered in China for the first time in many years. Fortune smiled on Xinjiang Oilfield, a regional division of the oil and gas giant PetroChina. Large oil reserves have been discovered in the Junggar Basin near Lake Ma in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

As reported on Friday, we are talking about geological reserves of raw materials of 1.24 billion tons. Proven reserves, according to PetroChina, amount to 520 million tons.

This is more than the Hemlock fields in the USA (Alaska) and the Brazilian Campus oil and gas basin (Atlantic Ocean), emphasizes Xinjiang Oilfield geologist Tang Yun.

According to him, as a result of geological exploration near Lake Ma, data was obtained that the area has the potential to discover at least one more deposit with reserves of over 1 billion tons. For China, these discoveries are a major event.

The PRC has been producing its own oil for several decades and in the 70s of the last century even exported hydrocarbons to Japan, Vietnam and the DPRK. But there is no exact data on oil reserves in China. According to the official assessment of the Chinese authorities, there are 5.3 billion tons of proven oil reserves in the country, and about 4 billion tons more on the Pacific shelf. The main production - approximately 2.2 million tons of oil per year - is carried out in the northeast of the country.

The Daqing oil and gas field, located in Heilongjiang Province, is considered the largest in terms of reserves. The explored reserves of the deposit discovered in 1959 were estimated at 5.7 billion tons.

In recent years, China's own oil production has been falling. In 2016, production in China decreased by 7% and amounted to about 4 million barrels per day. Analysts and experts predicted that the decline in hydrocarbon extraction volumes in China this year will continue at approximately the same parameters due to a reduction in production at mature fields and a decrease in investment in the exploration of new ones.

Artem Malov, senior analyst at the Energy Center of the Skolkovo Business School, agrees with this assessment.

For the country, the discovery of such a large oil field with proven reserves of 520 million tons means that within approximately 40-50 years they will be able to produce approximately 156 million tons or 1,110 million barrels of oil, the analyst notes.

Accordingly, it can be assumed that if this field is put into operation within 4-6 years, the need for imports will be reduced by the amount of annual production up to 100 thousand barrels per day, depending on the methods used to intensify production: in the total amount of oil imports China - about 8 million barrels per day - this figure is just over 1%, the expert adds.

China is a region with high production costs, so the implementation of such a project largely depends on the market conditions,

Tachennikov draws attention.

According to some estimates, by 2025, oil demand in China may increase to 12-14 million barrels per day. Against the background of this figure, oil production from this field does not seem significant, adds Malov.

China is now the world's second largest importer of crude oil. According to customs statistics of the PRC, the country imported 320 million tons of crude oil in January-September 2017, which is 12.2% more than in January-September 2016. At the same time, supplies from the Russian Federation to China during this period amounted to 45 million tons (worth $17.28 billion).

The volume of petroleum products imported by China in January-October 2017 also increased by 4.7% compared to the same period last year - to 24.35 million tons.

It was previously noted that China could overtake the United States in terms of oil imports in 2017.

Despite the fact that China is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, its energy consumption structure is very different from that of developed countries. The share of oil and gas in the country's energy balance is only 25%; The average per capita consumption of commercial fuels in China reaches less than 1 ton of standard fuel per year, while the world average is 2 tons.

China's own fuel resources are already insufficient for the needs of its developing industry. Since 1993, China has become a net importer of oil, which meant a fundamental change in the energy market throughout the Asia-Pacific region. It is clear that in the future, the volume of development of the oil and gas industry sector in China is unlikely to meet the internal needs of the economy, and in the near future the country will be forced to import oil and natural gas in ever-increasing quantities.

Until recently, information about oil reserves in the PRC was classified as a state secret. In addition, proven reserves differ significantly from explored and potential reserves. Many documentary sources of information do not take into account the varying degrees of probability of reserves; As old oil fields were depleted and new oil fields were discovered, estimates often changed. For example, in the press of the People's Republic of China during the years of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1969) and at the end of the 1970s (in order to attract foreign companies for exploration), potential reserves were clearly overestimated. Even now, the total data on reserves at individual fields and the general data for the country do not coincide.

China's proven oil reserves in 1999 were estimated at 3.2 billion tons, representing approximately 2.4% of world reserves. Reliable oil reserves on land, according to Chinese data, are estimated at 5.3 billion tons and 4 billion tons on the shelf.

Potential oil reserves have increased over 30 years (from 1966 to 1996) by 5 times, from 6 to 30 billion tons. The assessment of oil reserves in the country is also influenced by their linkage to two indicators (the share of world reserves, estimated at 2.3- 2.4%, and the so-called R/P Ratio, i.e. the ratio of reserves to production, adopted for China at 20 years).

Table 1

Oil production in China by year (million tons)

Sources:

As can be seen from the table, in recent years the growth rate of oil production has decreased due to the depletion of old fields. In the mid-1990s, China's period of oil self-sufficiency ended.

table 2

Oil production and consumption by year (million barrels/day, on average)

Source:

Table 3

Oil consumption in China by year (million tons)

Source:

Table 4

Forecast of oil consumption deficit in China by year (million tons)

Source:

Currently, China produces about 160 million tons of oil per year and consumes 200 million tons. In 2000, oil imports amounted to about 60 million tons, mainly from Oman. Since it is difficult to accurately predict at what pace China's economy will develop, experts' assumptions regarding future imports differ: for example, some claim that in 2010 it could amount to 70-90 million tons, while other publications give a figure of 120 million tons already in 2005.

At the same time, despite the shortage of oil, some of it was previously exported, mainly to Japan, and also (in small quantities) to the DPRK and Vietnam. However, oil export volumes have been steadily declining since the 1980s: if in 1986 China exported 28.4 million tons of oil, then in 1999 it was only 8.3 million tons, while in 2000 exports stopped altogether.

The total length of oil pipelines in the country in 1997 was 9.3 thousand km. Noteworthy is the largest energy pipeline from the city of Golmud (Tsaidam field) to Tibet to Lhasa with a length of 1080 km.

Oil fields

The largest group of oil fields, collectively called Daqing, is located in Northeast China in the basin of the Songhuajiang and Liaohe rivers (the so-called Songliao basin). The field, discovered in 1959, includes the Daqing, Daqing-E, Shengping, Songpantong, Changwo, Changcunlin, Xinchekou, Gaoxi, Putaohua-Abobaota oil fields. Oil reserves in Daqing were estimated at 800-1000 million tons, but recoverable reserves are declining every year.

Table 5

Oil production at the Daqing field by year (million tons)

Sources:

Adjacent to the Daqing field is the Liaohe field, which produced up to 10 million tons of crude oil per year in 1986-1987, and the Fuyu field with production of 1-2 million tons. An export oil pipeline was laid from Daqing to the ports of Dalian and Qingdao, as well as to Beijing,

Anshan and to the Dagang field - the largest in Northern China (Banqiao, Tianjiahe, Gandong, Wansyuzhuang, Ganxi, Zhouqingzhuang fields; in the late 1980s - early 1990s, this field produced 3-3.5 million tons of oil per year).

In Eastern China, the most famous is the group of deposits under the general name Shengli: Jingqiu, Yihezhuang, Chengdong, Yangsanmu, Hekou Gudao, Gudong, Yunandongxin, Chun Haozhen, Shento, Hajia, Shandian. In 1990, oil production here reached 33 million tons. Oil pipelines were laid from the field to Xi'an and Zhengzhou.

Table 6

Oil production at the Shengli field by year (million tons)

Source:

In Hebei Province in Eastern China there is the Jingzhong field, where oil production amounted to 5 million tons in 1990. Thus, approximately 40 million tons of oil are produced in Eastern China per year.

In southwestern China, approximately 2.2 million tons of oil per year are produced in fields in Sichuan province north of Chongqing (Yingshan, Nanchong, Panlanchen). By the way, in Sichuan province oil was extracted as early as 600 BC using bamboo tubes from shallow wells. In 1996, construction of the Chengdu-Lanzhou oil pipeline began.

In Southern China, about 2 million tons of oil per year are produced onshore in Guangdong province at the Sanshui field.

In recent years, great hopes in China have been placed on the oil fields of the northwestern part of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (Dzungaria, Karamay, Tarim, Turfan-Hami, Qinghai, Yumen), where 30% of the total reserves in the country are concentrated. In 1997, 16.4 million tons of crude oil were produced throughout the region, and in 2001, production is projected to increase to 23 million tons. The most significant fields are in the Tarim Basin, with proven reserves of 600 million tons and potential reserves of 18.8 billion tons. In the northern part of the depression there are the Kan, Tamarik, Ichkelik, Duntsulitage, Dongchetan, Bostan, Yakela, Tugalmin, Tergen, Akekum, Santamu, Qunke, Lunnan deposits. In the southern part of the depression there is a group of Tazhong fields (Tazhong-1, Tazhong-4, Tazhong-6, Tazhong-10), connected to the northern Lunnan field by a 315 km pipeline. In addition, oil fields have been discovered in the westernmost part of Tarim on the border with Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan (Karato, Bashatopu). Oil production in the Tarim Basin in 1996 amounted to 3.5 million tons, in 1999 - 4.7 million tons, in 2000 it should increase to 5 million tons, and by 2010 - to 14 million tons.

In Dzungaria, between the Altai and Tien Shan mountain systems, there is an old Karamay oil field, explored back in 1897. The potential reserves of this field are estimated at 1.5 billion tons (Karamay, Dushanzi, Shixi, Mabei, Urho, Xiangzijie). There are pipelines Karamay-Urumqi and Karamay-Shanshan. Oil production at the field does not exceed 5 million tons.

The fields of the Tsaidam Depression (Lenghu-3, Lenghu-4, Lenghu-5) produced 3.5 million tons of oil in 1990. Production is currently estimated at 1.5-2 million tons. The Lenghu-Lanzhou oil pipeline has been built.

Currently, more than 90% of the country's oil is produced on land, but since 1969, test oil began to be extracted on the shelves of the East China, Yellow and South China Seas and the Bohai Gulf. Oil fields have also been discovered on the shelf of the island. Hainan (Wenchang, Lintou, Ledong). Potential oil reserves on the shelf of the South China Sea (which, however, are claimed by at least 12 countries in the region) are estimated at 10-16 billion tons. In the South China Sea region, 150-200 million tons of oil per year are currently produced (all countries in the region). Of this volume, 4.5 million tons of oil were produced on the entire Chinese shelf in 1993, about 15 million tons in 1996, and 16.2 million tons in 1997.

In 1994, China produced 6.47 million tons of crude oil on the shelf of the South China Sea, in 1996 - 11.8 million tons. Currently, production has increased to 14-15 million tons, however, according to experts, the development of shelf fields yielded generally disappointing results. Initial estimates of oil reserves in the Chinese offshore sector (up to 1.7 billion tons) turned out to be clearly overestimated in order to attract foreign investors.

Large oil reserves (300 million tons) have been explored in the Bohai Bay (the so-called Bozhong complex). The oil fields here are divided into blocks, developed since 1979 by foreign companies (Chevron, Kerr McGee, Texaco, Agip, Samedan, Apache, Esso China Upstream, Wood Mackenzie, Phillips Petroleum International Corporation Asia together with the Chinese company CNODC). In 2000, oil production in the Bohai Gulf amounted to 4 million tons.

As for crude oil refining, the total capacity of China's oil refineries amounted to 4.3 million barrels per day in 1999. The factories are located in the main cities of the country, as well as on the sites of the largest deposits. However, the share of imports in raw materials for refineries is constantly increasing: Chinese oil has a higher sulfur content, and this makes the production of petroleum products based on light Middle Eastern oil more profitable. Currently, the largest oil refinery in China is being built in Danzhou, Hainan Province, the cost of the first stage is $2.2 billion.

Oil producing companies

Mining in China is vertically integrated and tightly controlled by the state. In 1998, the oil and gas industry was reformed and two of the then four state-owned companies were merged. Currently, oil and gas production in China is carried out by:

China National Petroleum Co., CNPC. In 1998, CNPC's assets amounted to $57.8 billion; the company controls 70% of proven oil reserves in the north, northeast and west of the country. Production volume 107 million tons per year (1998). In 1999, PetroChina Company Ltd was established, to which CNPC transferred most of its domestic assets, retaining overseas business and pipeline management;

China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) with a capital of 1.8 billion. Branches: China National oil and gas exploration and development Corporation (CNODC), China offshore oil Nanhai East (CONHE);

Chinese Petrochemical Corp., Sinopec. Assets - $46 billion, processes 36 million tons of oil annually.

In 2000, shares in China's oil and gas industry were distributed among these three companies as follows:

Table 7

Source:

There are also separate companies created for specialized purposes:

• China Petroleum Engineering and Construction Corp (CPECC) (construction of oil sector infrastructure, participation in the construction of oil refining enterprises);
• Chinese Petroleum and Gas Bureaus (CPB), which are engaged in the construction of gas and oil pipelines;
• In 1997, China National Star Petroleum Co was formed (oil production in the southern provinces of the PRC);
• Shanghai Petrochemical (oil refining in Northeast China), sales of $1.6 billion;
• Zhenhai Referring & Chem. (oil refining in Southeast China), sales amount 1.3 billion dollars;
• In Hong Kong (Hong Kong), the Japanese company Tokyo Electric Power Company has a monopoly on the supply of oil, as well as the processing and storage of petroleum products.

The PRC has adopted fairly clear rules and regulations regarding the development of oil resources. It should be noted in this regard:

• Temporary Rules for Regulating the Registration of Oil and Natural Gas Exploration and Production Data (adopted by the State Council of the People's Republic of China in 1987);
• Resolution on payment for the use of the oil shelf territory during the development of oil resources (1968);
• Regulations on the protection of oil and gas pipelines (1969);
• Decree on compensation for damage during seismic exploration of oil deposits (1989);
• Temporary resolution on payment of fees for the use of fields in the development of continental oil resources through cooperation between Chinese and foreign enterprises (1990);
• Regulations of the People's Republic of China on cooperation with foreigners in the development of onshore oil resources (1993).

The presence of a fairly well-developed legal framework allows foreign companies to operate successfully in China. By the beginning of 1998, more than 130 contracts had been signed with 67 foreign companies from 18 countries for the exploration and exploitation of oil fields on the shelf of the South China Sea. Together they invested about $3 billion. Thus, a consortium of three companies (China Offshore Oil Nanhai East (CONHE) - 51% of shares, Amoco Orient Pertoleum - 24.5%, Kerr McGee China Pertoleum - 24.5%) invested $650 million in the Luhua project - a field of 120 miles southwest of Hong Kong in the delta. Zhemchuzhny, whose reserves are estimated at 160 million tons of oil. In 1990, the CACT group was formed (China National Offshore Oil Corporation - 51%, Agip China BV, Chevron Overseas pertoleum Inc. - 49%) with the participation of Texaco China B.V., which continues exploration of another field - Huizhou in the delta of the river. Zhemchuzhny, with an expected production level of 5-6 million tons per year.

The country has a program for the construction of large tanks for storing petroleum products with a total volume of 2171 thousand m?, including in Shenzhen, Qingdao, on the island. Hainan (Linggao), Shanghai (Pudong), Chengdu (Sichuan). Foreign companies are taking part in the construction - Agip, Feoso, Marubeni, Shell, Saudi Aramco, Sangyong, Mitsui. Santa Fe (USA), Occidental Petroleum, JHN oil operation Co, Exxon Corp. are also participating in the exploration of new fields.

International projects

As mentioned above, China currently imports 50% of its crude oil from Oman, with which it has entered into a number of long-term agreements. However, China cannot be satisfied with such dependence on one supplier, so options for long-term agreements for the supply of oil and gas from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Peru, Kuwait, the UAE, Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia are now being explored. China is seeking the right to participate in the development of oil and gas fields in Papua New Guinea, Sudan, Thailand, and Venezuela; in Sudan, Iraq and Peru, rights were acquired to conduct prospecting and exploration work at a number of deposits.

In accordance with the General Agreement between the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the development of a feasibility study (feasibility study) for the construction of the Kazakh-Chinese oil pipeline began. The Kazakh part of the Aktau-Kumkol pipeline will be 1200 km, the Chinese part - 1800 km (through the territory of the XUAR). From the Xinjiang oil fields, the Chinese pipeline system continues to the city of Shanshan. If the oil pipeline load is at least 20 million tons of oil per year, the pipeline can be extended to Lanzhou, from where there is already a main oil pipeline to Eastern China. The total length of the Aktau-Kumkol oil pipeline will thus be about 3000 km at a cost of 2.4-2.7 billion dollars and a guaranteed throughput capacity of 20 million tons per year (maximum - 40 million tons).

Construction is divided into three stages based on distance and required investments:

1. Kenkiyak-Kumkol - 785 km, 785 million dollars.

2. Atasu - Alashankou (PRC) - 1100 km, 1.3 billion dollars.

3. Atyrau-Kenkiyak (410 km, $359 million) and Kumkol-Karakoin (199 km, $131 million).

In 1997, a framework agreement of intent was concluded, but in 1999 all work on the feasibility study was suspended.

The obvious advantages of the project include the absence of the risk of transit countries. Between 1996 and 1998, China, represented by CNPC, acquired for $4 billion a 60% stake in Aktobemunaigas JSC (AMG), which owns the Uzen field on the Mangyshlak Peninsula. At the same time, experts point out the obvious shortcomings of the project: the large length, the lack of a developed internal network connecting the XUAR and the eastern regions of China, the danger of a lack of oil, since the pipeline can become profitable if it pumps at least 20 million tons per year. In addition, large estimated oil reserves in the fields of the Tarim Basin have not yet been confirmed in the XUAR itself. Kazakh oil will never be cheaper than Middle Eastern oil, and can be viewed primarily from the point of view of the political need to diversify sources of hydrocarbons.

Observers emphasize that the Chinese side still considers the project as a whole ineffective, and Kazakhstan is forced to reckon with this conclusion.

The negative experience of cooperation between Kazakhstan and China should also be taken into account. Every year, since 1997, Aktobemunaigas has exported about 2 million tons of oil to China via Russia, supplying it via a direct pipeline to the Orsk oil refinery. Special orders of the Russian government exempted this oil from customs duties as transit oil. However, in January 2001, the period of export benefits for AMG JSC expired, but the agreements and the export license were not reissued by CNPC. As a result, the Orsk Oil Refinery refused to accept Kazakh oil, dozens of oil wells stopped, gas produced as a by-product during oil extraction stopped flowing into the homes of Aktobe residents, and the operation of the Aktobe Thermal Power Plant was under threat. Only with great difficulty did CNPC manage to reach an agreement with the owner of the Orsk Oil Refinery, the Tyumen Oil Company. In addition, the Kazakh side noted that CNPC did not fulfill the obligation it assumed when purchasing AMG shares to build a pipeline from Kazakhstan to Western China (oil is still delivered there by rail) and does not maintain the investment schedule stipulated by the agreement: in 1999 it was only 59% completed.

It is also worth noting the participation of the Chinese corporation CNPC in two joint projects with the Turkmen state company Turkmenneft to develop the Gumdag oil field, as well as fields on the Caspian Sea shelf.

Russian project

The prospects for importing oil from Russia seem quite obvious for China, thanks to its territorial proximity and the developed pipeline network existing in Russia, which could well be continued for export to China. However, there is still not a single completed Russian-Chinese oil project. So far, only the oil pipeline project from the fields of the Krasnoyarsk Territory to China is in the final approval stage. It was expected that the agreement would be signed in July 2000 during the visit of Russian President V. Putin to the PRC, but this did not happen.

CNPC concluded an agreement on drawing up a feasibility study for the project with YUKOS in February 1999.

In December 1999, a memorandum was signed on the construction of an oil pipeline from Angarsk to China. The cost of the project was estimated at $1.7 billion, the pipe's throughput was 30 million tons per year for 25 years (production becomes unprofitable when loading less than 20 million tons per year). The feasibility study was planned to be completed in 2000, but the Russian side was then unable to provide guarantees of a sufficient amount of oil. Initially, it was assumed that the bulk of it would come from Western Siberia, but most of the deposits there had already entered a period of decline in production, and it turned out to be impossible to guarantee the necessary supplies. Then it was decided to refocus on the Yurubcheno-Tokhomskaya zone (YUTZ) of Eastern Siberia, the recoverable reserves of which are estimated at 900-1100 million tons - this is the largest undeveloped oil and gas field in Eastern Siberia. The Yurubchensky area, where work is expected to be carried out, contains about 300 million tons of recoverable oil reserves and is the most studied part of the YuTZ.

A definite advantage of the project is the possibility of using the existing Tyumen-Omsk-Krasnoyarsk-Irkutsk oil pipeline, to which, however, branches have yet to be created. The license for geological exploration and development of the Verkhnechonskoye, Yurubcheno-Tokhomskoye and Sobinskoye YuTZ fields belongs to the East Siberian Oil Company (VSNK), where NK YUKOS owns 68% of the shares.

However, the large Kuyumbinskoye field in the same zone is being developed by Slavneft. The latter circumstance created significant difficulties for the project, since the two companies could not agree on key issues. Only by September 2000, YUKOS managed to acquire additional rights to develop fields, which allowed it to achieve parity with Slavneft and begin to coordinate interests. At the same time, YUKOS intensified work on the Tersko-Kama section of the Yurubcheno-Takhomskaya zone.

Another difficulty lay in the fact that, although back in May 1999 the State Duma decided to develop the Yurubchenskoye field on the terms of a PSA, an “Agreement” on production sharing at the field was never prepared, and the tax regime of the project, thus, has not yet been defined As for the Kuyumbinskoye field, it has so far only been recommended by the Government of the Russian Federation to the State Duma for consideration for its transfer to the PSA regime.

At the moment, two possible routes for the pipeline are being considered: through Mongolia and bypassing it. For Russian companies, the economically more profitable route through Mongolia to Beijing is preferable, for CNPC - bypassing Mongolia from Angarsk to Harbin, to the Daqing field, then along existing oil pipelines to the ports

Dalian, Qingdao and others.

The estimated tariff for pumping oil along the route will be $30 per ton, while transporting oil from Oman costs China $10 per ton.

It is important that in China, a country with a planned economy, the directives for the 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-2006) do not provide for the construction of either Kazakh or Siberian oil pipelines. Thus, the project is obviously not one that will be implemented in the next few years.

Reasons for today's failures

There is no doubt about the prospects of the Chinese fuel cell market, but Russia’s future on it, despite the colossal reserves of raw materials, seems very uncertain. The essence of the problems facing Russia in this area, in our opinion, can be reduced to several points.

1. Unprofitability

Russian oil is not cheap, and existing export payments and excise taxes, combined with the high cost of transportation, make it too expensive for China. In the year 2000 alone, the rates of export customs duties on Russian oil increased from 15 to 32 euros per 1 ton, and there is no doubt that they will rise further, especially considering that Russia is expected to make large-scale payments on external debts, the funds for which traditionally withdrawn from petrodollars.

2. Imperfection of legislation

Russian legislation in the field of field development has not yet been finalized; Thus, there is no completed regulatory framework for PSA, and the contradictions between the PSA Law and the Tax Code have not been eliminated. If we take into account some dissatisfaction of the regional and federal authorities with the first experiments in developing oil fields under the PSA scheme, then the future prospects for the PSA in Russia become not obvious. All this does not allow raising the funds necessary for the development of new fields and the construction of pipelines.

In addition, other changes in legislation should be expected in the near future. Thus, a reform of the rules for accessing exporters to main oil and gas pipelines began, for which a special commission of the Government of the Russian Federation was created. As a result, planning oil imports from Russia has become much more difficult for foreign partners. It must be taken into account that China is a state with a planned economy and a powerful bureaucratic system, for which any changes in the legislation of a partner country, even in a more favorable direction for itself, is a reason to completely curtail contacts and wait until

everything will “settle down.”

3. Lack of government guarantees

China traditionally prefers to work in conditions where cooperation at all stages, starting from preliminary negotiations, is supported by reliable government guarantees. In addition, it is expected that the positions of the companies with which negotiations are being conducted and the state will be agreed upon, which is not expected in Russia. In those cases when several Russian companies simultaneously come up with different, not mutually agreed upon

proposals, while referring to the support of the Russian state, one can reasonably expect the Chinese side to refuse to perceive these proposals as real.

4. Lack of understanding of the specifics of relationships

The case of Aktobemunaigas (and comments on it in the Russian and Kazakh press) is interesting because it demonstrates a lack of understanding in our business world (meaning both Russia and the CIS countries) of the specifics of the relationship between Chinese business and the Chinese state. Therefore, our corporations have the same groups working with China that negotiate with Western oil companies, which leads to numerous mistakes.

The failure of the Chinese to fulfill their obligations is the norm for business in cases where the desire to “get cheaper, give more, and not bear the costs of previous obligations” is not balanced by the bureaucracy. This is where, for example, the myth about the poor quality of Chinese goods was born. You need to understand that in the Chinese state, business always stands slightly below the state apparatus. This point and other features of Chinese thinking require Russian companies to create permanent groups to work specifically with China (and in China), and not the usual idea for Russians that everything or almost everything can be thought out and prepared directly in Russia. Doing business with the Chinese oil and gas sector cannot be done according to the Russian or European model.

LITERATURE:

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2. Energy in Japan. 1989, #5.

4. OPEC Petroleum (general review). 1997-1998.

5. OPEC Petroleum. 1993, #2.

6. Petroleum Economist (review). 1997-1999.

7. Petroleum Economist. 1995, #9.

8. Ibid. 1996, no. 1.

9. Ibid. 1996, no. 2.

10. Ibid. 1997, no. 2.

14. State Petroleum and Chemical Administration (China). 1999.

15. Wood Mackenzie Statistical Review.

21. Institute of Internal Affairs of the Russian Academy of Sciences, express information. 1996, no. 5.

23. International life. 1999, no. 10.

24. Oil and gas vertical. 1999, no. 2-3.

25. Ibid. 2000, no. 2.

26. Oil of Russia. 2000, no. 2.

29. Expert. 2000, no. 13.

30. China in the 21st century. Abstracts of reports // IFES RAS. M., 2000.

31. Oil and gas vertical. 2000, no. 11.

32. Expert, 2000, No. 45.

33. Oil and gas vertical. 2000, no. 7-8.

34. Nezavisimaya Gazeta, 02/27/2001.

35. Financial and economic bulletin of the oil and gas industry. 2000, no. 4.

36. Oil and gas vertical. 2000, no. 12.

Georgy Dmitrievich BESSARABOV - Leading Researcher at the Department of Asian and Asia-Pacific Problems of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies

Alexander Dmitrievich SOBYANIN- Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the analytical magazine "Profi"