China is setting up a new entity that groups national oil producers and other state firms to search for ultra-deep oil and gas reserves and tackle harder-to-extract non-conventional resources, state energy group CNPC said on Monday, APA reports citing Reuters.
This is in answer to President Xi Jinping's call for the sector to have "new productive forces" that will contribute to the country's energy security, CNPC said on its website.
In addition to CNPC and Sinopec, the country's two dominant producers of oil and gas, the new body gathers seven other state groups including China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, steel group Baowu, equipment builder Sinomach, Dongfang Electric Group and Minmetals.
"This...is to gather wisdom and strength to jointly build an industry chain from ultra-deep oil and gas exploration to development to engineering," CNPC said.
