Maturation of the Daqing field, the largest inland field of its kind in China, is strained further by the low price of crude oil, off more than 40 percent from its June highs above $100 per barrel. A staff member told the official Xinhua News Agency on condition of anonymity the field’s production should be in a free fall by next year. The field has produced more than 15 billion barrels since operations began in 1960. Last year’s annual production was around 290 million barrels, though that should fall to around 234 million barrels by 2020, the employee at PetroChina said in an interview published Sunday. The field’s production rate as of this year represents about a quarter of China’s total annual oil production. The expected […]