PetroChina Daqing Output Falls 4% as Reserves Dwindle

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utput from the field, which accounts for more than a fifth of the nation's oil production, dropped to 41.7 million metric tons from 43.5 million tons in 2006, China National Petroleum Corp. said in a statement on its Web site today. Natural gas output rose 2 percent to 2.55 billion cubic meters.

Crude production from Daqing, discovered almost half a century ago in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, has fallen from a peak of 56 million tons in 1997. PetroChina is accelerating the use of technology and research on exploration work to extend the productive life of the field.

``The decline rate is actually lower than the 7 to 8 percent at other fields in the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico,'' said Gordon Kwan, head of energy research at CLSA Ltd. in Hong Kong. ``Such declines around the world are why global oil supplies are limited and thus why there are higher oil prices ahead.''

Benchmark crude oil prices in New York traded near a record after reaching $100 a barrel for the first time yesterday. Prices have gained 70 percent in the last year.

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