中石油誓在页岩气产量上追赶中石化

Chinese oil company PetroChina vowed to catch up with its arch-rival Sinopec in shale gas production next year, as the two race to meet a government mandate to increase output of the fuel that has revolutionised the US energy sector.

中国石油天然气股份有限公司（PetroChina，简称：中石油）立志明年在页岩气产量方面赶上主要对手中国石油化工股份有限公司（Sinopec，简称：中石化）。这两家公司都急于实现中国政府提高页岩气产量的要求。

Beijing’s planners have looked with envy on the flow of cheap gas that has lowered US energy prices and reduced that country’s dependence on imports. But similar success has so far eluded China, in part because of a more complicated geology and less developed legal and pipeline infrastructure, but also, critics say, because the dominant state owned oil companies were dragging their feet.

页岩气是一种非常规化石燃料，它已彻底改变美国能源业的格局。这种廉价的天然气不但降低了美国的能源价格，还帮该国减少了对能源进口的依赖，令中国政府的经济规划者羡慕不已。但中国迄今在这方面却没有取得类似成就。一个原因在于，中国地质状况更为复杂、法律和管道基础设施也不那么发达；批评人士认为，还有一个原因是，占市场主导地位的国有油企“拖后腿”。

Sinopec has so far taken the lead, trumpeting its initial success at the Fuling field in southwestern Sichuan province. It plans to produce 5bn cubic metres (bcm) there by the end of 2015, accounting for the lion’s share of the national target of 6.5 bcm next year.

中石化目前在中国页岩气领域占据领先位置，它对自己在四川涪陵区块取得的初步成果作了高调宣传。中石化拟到2015年底时在涪陵区块建成50亿立方米的产能，在明年全国65亿立方米的目标产能中占据最大份额。

“Our shale gas development is about a year and a half behind Sinopec,” Wang Dongjin, PetroChina vice-chairman, said on Thursday, adding that the company’s attention had been distracted by work at its Moxi natural gasfield in southwestern China.

中石油副董事长汪东进周四表示，公司的页岩气发展较中石化晚了约一年半时间。他补充说，位于西南地区的磨溪气田的工作也分散了中石油的注意力。

PetroChina’s management has been decimated by a corruption investigation that has ensnared former energy and security tsar Zhou Yongkang; while both companies have been galvanised by reformers’ threats to shake up the energy sector that they dominate.

中国政府最近掀起一场反腐败调查，给中石油管理层造成沉重打击，前能源和安全“沙皇”周永康也因此倒台。与此同时，改革派人士威胁要改造中石油和中石化主导的国内能源业，对这两家公司也造成了震动。

Mr Wang said the company aimed to produce 2.6bcm of shale gas next year, up from 100m cubic metres this year and above its official 2015 target of 1.5bcm.

汪东进表示，中石油计划明年生产26亿立方米页岩气，这个数字远高于今年1亿立方米的产量，也高于官方为该公司设定的2015年产量目标（即15亿立方米）。

The two companies’ new enthusiasm for shale gas comes as China’s natural gas demand grew by almost 9 per cent in the first half. PetroChina said this compared with less than 4 per cent growth in refined products demand.

这两家公司对页岩气焕发出新的热情之际，今年上半年，中国天然气需求增长近9%。中石油表示，这与成品油需求增长不足4%形成反差。

A dismal chemicals markets and the growing surplus of refined fuels in the world’s second-largest oil consumer dented the companies’ refining business in the first half. Overall, both saw profits growth in line with analysts’ expectations in the first six months of 2014.

中国是世界第二大石油消费国，这里化工市场的低迷和成品油的日益过剩，拖累了上述两家公司上半年的炼油业务。总体而言，今年上半年它们的利润增长符合分析师的预期。

That reflects not only slowing economic growth – GDP grew by 7.5 per cent in the second quarter – but also a shift in the composition of the economy. Services account for about half of the Chinese economy now, while sputtering growth in energy-intensive sectors like construction, steel and coal hurt demand for transport fuels such as diesel.

这不仅反映出经济增长放缓——二季度国内生产总值(GDP)增长7.5%——还反映出经济结构的改变。服务业现占中国经济的一半左右，建筑、钢铁和煤炭等高耗能产业则增长乏力，导致柴油等运输用燃料需求减少。

In three months of the first seven months of this year, China has been a net exporter of refined products, reversing years of steady imports to feed its rapidly growing economy. In the first half of the year, national demand for diesel or gas oil contracted by 0.6 per cent.

今年头7个月中，中国有3个月成为成品油净出口国，逆转了为满足高速增长的经济而多年持续进口的局面。今年上半年，中国全国柴油需求萎缩了0.6%。

As demand slows, refiners are also facing increased competition in wealthier coastal regions thanks to their own expansions, continuing production by the independent, “teapot” refineries and the commissioning of a large new refinery in Quanzhou built by state-owned chemicals trader Sinochem.

除了需求放缓，炼油企业在较富裕沿海地区面对的竞争也有所加剧，原因包括它们自身的扩张，“小作坊”式的独立炼油厂的持续生产，以及国有化工贸易商中化集团(Sinochem)在泉州新建成的一家大型炼油厂的投产。

“Asian markets have already braced themselves” for an influx of Chinese diesel and gasoline, said Li Li, research director for energy consultancy ICIS China.

能源咨询公司安迅思中国(ICIS China)研究总监李莉表示：“亚洲市场已（为中国柴油和汽油出口）作好了准备。”