OREANDA-NEWS. August 06, 2013. China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), parent of PetroChina, said it had raised its overseas oil and gas equity output by 6.5 percent in the first half of 2013 versus a year ago, with output in Kazakhstan and Iraq exceeding targets.

Oil and gas output in fields operated by CNPC outside China expanded 8.2 percent during the period to 54.66 million tonnes of oil equivalent, or about 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd), according to a report on CNPC's website. (www.cnpc.com.cn)

CNPC's equity output reached 26.94 million tonnes, or 1.09 million bpd of oil equivalent, according to the report.

The world's second biggest oil consumer has been buying up overseas oil and gas assets over the last decade in Africa, Central Asia, the Middle East, and North and South America to diversify its supply options as energy demand rises at home.

Output at CNPC's Kazakh operations, one of its biggest output contributors outside China, surpassed targets due to improved management and efficiency as oilfields in the central Asian nation aged and their reserves declined.

CNPC also made progress in boosting production in Iraq, where the Chinese firm was the first foreign oil company to sign an oil service contract in post-Saddam Iraq. Output at the Halfaya and Al-Ahdab oilfields were above target, the report said, with no further details provided.

Major discoveries were made in West Africa's Chad and Niger, Kazakhstan, Ecuador and Sudan, the report said.