CNPC Expands in Tajikistan

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), parent company of PetroChina Co (NYSE: PTR, SHA: 601857, HKG: 0857), has set up a joint venture with French Total SA and Tethys Petroleum Ltd. to develop an oil and gas project in Tajikistan.

Total and China National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Corp., a unit of CNPC, will each hold a third of the Bokhtar project, Tethys said in a statement Saturday.

PetroChina and Total will spend $30 million each to refund about two-thirds of historical costs and will carry some of its future spending.

"The initial work program is expected to comprise of further seismic data acquisition followed by a deep exploration well," Tethys said. The completion is subject to final Tajik governmental approval, Bloomberg reported.

The Bokhtar license may hold an estimated 27.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent resources, according to a report from June 30, Tethys said. It first announced plans to bring in partners on Oct. 26.

The Bokhtar contract area covers about 35,000 square kilometers in the eastern end of the Amu Darya Basin. Total said that a number of giant gas discoveries have already been made in the basin.

Chinese state-owned energy companies are going abroad seeking new oil and gas reserves to feed the world's second-largest economy. Earlier this month, Ottawa approved China National Offshore Oil Corp (0883.HK) or CNOOC'S acquisition of Canada's Nexen Inc., which is China's largest overseas energy acquisition.

Power consumption of China will grow by about 6 percent to 5 trillion kilowatt-hours, as the nation's economy stabilizes, the State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) forecast last month.