Sinochem looks to Africa in oil hunt

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Sinochem looks to Africa in oil hunt
Sun Apr 23, 2006 9:23 AM ET

By Deepa Babington

DOHA (Reuters) - Sinochem Corp., China's fourth largest oil firm, plans to aggressively expand its production base by scooping up assets in Africa, backed by its view that oil prices will remain high, a top executive told Reuters.

The company plans to spend as much as $2 billion in projects outside China over the next three to five years - ramping up from just $250 million over the last three years, Sinochem Vice President Han Gensheng, who oversees the company's exploration and production program said in an interview.

Sinchem, known best for its trading operations, has recently ventured into oil exploration outside China as it pushes ahead in its ambition to become an integrated oil firm.

"We are very interested in Africa and South America," said Han.

Sinochem, which already has projects in Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Ecuador, plans to bid in Libya's oil and gas licensing round later this year and is eyeing other African nations like Nigeria and Ghana, he said.

Unlike the large Western majors, which have adopted a cautious approach to raising spending based on record prices, Sinochem says it is betting that oil prices will stay high over the next few years, turning once marginal oilfields into potentially profitable ventures.

Sinochem evaluates investing in a project under the assumption that oil prices will be at least $50 a barrel over the long-term, Han said.

Large Western majors like Exxon and Chevron, by comparison, have been reluctant to raise their own internal forecasts to match oil's dizzy rise in recent years and use oil price assumptions of between $20 and $30 a barrel to evaluate projects.

Despite their smaller size and relative lack of experience, Chinese firms like Sinochem are viewed warily by Western oil majors, who fear they will be outbid in the quest for oil.

In the most prominent example of that threat so far, Chinese offshore producer CNOOC Ltd. last year locked horns with Chevron

in a battle to acquire U.S. oil producer Unocal Corp., though it lost out in the end due to U.S. political opposition.

Oil prices have surged from about $20 in 2002 to record highs over $75 a barrel last week, propelled by fears of supply disruptions and rapidly growing demand in India and China.

Han reckons Chinese demand could grow by as much as 25 percent by 2010, given the country's booming economy and the rising energy demand to fuel that growth.

Even if the Chinese government's policies on energy conservation -- designed to curb its growing appetite for oil -- were to work, China's energy demand would still jump by 15 percent over the next five years, he said.

Still, Han said he believed oil at between $40 and $45 a barrel would more accurately reflect the supply and demand of oil in the market, judging that speculation by traders accounted for $15 in current prices and geopolitical worries over disruptions adding another $10 a barrel.