PetroChina to raise output in Tarim oilfield 50 pct by 2015

BEIJING May 17 (Reuters) - PetroChina will boost crude oil and natural gas output in its Tarim oilfield in northwestern Xinjiang region by 50 percent in five years and double them in nine years, a newspaper run by parent company China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) reported on Tuesday.

PetroChina aims to realise the goals of 30 million tonnes of oil equivalent by 2015 and 40 million tonnes by 2019 in Tarim, China Petroleum Daily reported, citing comments from Chairman Jiang Jiemin.

Jiang is also the top executive of CNPC.

Tarim produced around 20 million tonnes of oil equivalent in 2010, in which crude oil production totalled 5.54 million tonnes and natural gas output amounted to 18.4 billion cubic metres.

(Reported by Jim Bai and Tom Miles; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)