RIYADH, 26 July — Chinese Petroleum Corporation (CPC), Taiwan’s largest corporation with total sales of $12 billion last year, is willing to make massive investment in the Kingdom’s upstream energy sector if the initiative comes from the Saudi side.

"We have been rated A+ by Standard and Poor’s on the basis of our leading market position in Taiwan’s energy sector, extensive distribution network, domestic monopoly in natural gas, and strong underlying cash-flow protection measures," Stanley Shih, representative of CPC’s Saudi Arabian Liaison Office, told Arab News yesterday.

He said their crude oil import from Saudi Arabia stands at over $ 2 billion annually. However, the Saudi government will have to approach them, as they did in the case of all the Western oil majors. Stanley said CPC currently sources only 10 percent of its energy resources from the domestic market, and is largely dependent on imports from the Middle East. "Over the next few years, CPC is expected to increase its international exploration and development activities in an effort to gain greater access to oil and gas reserves."

CPC’s willingness to invest in the upstream gas sector comes at a time when talks are under way on the $ 25 billion Saudi gas initiative. Asked if they have submitted any proposal to the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, he said normally it is the Saudi government’s policy to make the first move. However, he would like to send across the message that they would respond positively to such an initiative.

The CPC representative said the company has a refinery capacity of around 770,000 barrels per day, representing about 64 percent of Taiwan’s domestic production. It also accounts for approximately 44 percent of Taiwan’s petrochemical industry, 85 percent of the lucrative national petroleum market and is the only natural gas supplier in Taiwan.

Pointing out that CPC has been ranked among the top 10 petroleum companies globally by Standard and Poor’s, Stanley said it is ahead of nine other US companies in terms of energy exploration and marketing.

Referring to its activities in the oil and gas sector, he said some of its joint ventures include one with Conoco, a multinational oil company invited by the Saudi government under the Saudi gas initiative.

The CPC-Conoco joint venture located in Venezuela has been doing very well, he added.