China Petroleum & Chemical (Sinopec), the world's second largest oil refiner, has budgeted around 700 billion yuan (HK$830 billion) in the next five years to expand its petroleum fuel and chemicals output to meet rising demand.
The firm continues to face dual challenges from domestic fuel price controls that have weakened its refining profit, and from difficulties in finding sufficient new oil and gas reserves on the mainland.
This means the nation's second largest oil and gas producer is increasingly under pressure to acquire oil and gas resources overseas to ensure long-term growth.
The company is aiming for crude oil output of between 43.5 million and 45 million tonnes in 2015, down from 46.2 million tonnes last year, president Wang Tianpu said.
Gas output is targeted to reach 20 to 24 billion cubic metres in 2015, representing average annual growth of 9.9 per cent to 13.9 per cent from last year's 12.5 bcm.
Sinopec's 2015 total output target for both oil and gas represents an average annual growth of 1.2 per cent to 2.8 per cent from last year, down from the 4.1 per cent average rate achieved between 2006 and last year.