“We are in the process of forming partnerships for certain bids, and Chinese companies are a part of that,” van der Veer said at a news conference.
Van der Veer declined to say which companies Shell is talking to, which field they might bid on or why it was considering Chinese partners. He said the bidding deadline is expected to be in late June or early July and partnership details would be announced then.
Shell will consider Iraq’s security situation and employee safety before deciding on a timeline for oil field development, van der Veer said.
Shell is trying to expand in China’s fast-growing market and signed a cooperation agreement with state-owned China National Petroleum Corp. in 2007. Van der Veer said he was visiting Beijing to check on studies being done on areas where they might work together. He said they were making progress but declined to give details.
China is the world’s second-largest oil consumer after the United States and its state-owned suppliers have signed a multibillion-dollar flurry of deals to import petroleum and develop sources abroad.
China is a key part of Shell’s long-term strategy to expand in faster-growing markets outside the West, said Peter Voser, its chief financial officer. He said other target markets include India, Indonesia and Turkey.
Voser said those plans would not be affected by the global economic slump.
“I think China has a lot to offer in terms of future demand and so is very interesting as a country to invest in,” he said. “China is a key part of the long-term strategy of the Royal Dutch Shell Group, and that’s not going to change.”
Shell and CNPC jointly operate the Changbei gas field in China’s northwest and Shell reportedly is bidding for a contract on a gas field in the southwest. It signed a 20-year deal with CNPC unit PetroChina Ltd. in November to import natural gas.
In Iraq, CNPC signed a $3 billion deal to develop the Ahdab oil field in the country’s south. Shell has a separate deal to establish a gas joint venture with a government company in southern Iraq. Van der Veer said Shell employees were in Iraq working on that.
In China, Woser said Shell wants to expand into refining but declined to talk about possible acquisitions.
“We will look at opportunities as they come along,” he said.
Globally, Woser said Shell expects its oil and gas production to grow by 2 to 3 percent a year through 2012.
The Dutch-British oil giant suffered a $2.8 billion loss for the final quarter of 2008 due to lower crude prices. But Woser said worldwide investment this year should hold steady at the 2008 level of $31 billion to $32 billion.
