Sinopec to step up western oil efforts

Sinopec announced plans to step up its oil exploration and production efforts in western China to meet China's soaring demand for energy. The company said that to the end of 2004 it had discovered 1.21bn tons of proven oil and oil-equivalent gas reserves in the Tahe oil field of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It said that while it was unlikely to find large new oil reserves, it would focus on improving exploration and production at existing oil fields.