The Sydney-based company today said gross production from its C and D oil fields in Zhao Dong has been pared back from about 30,000 barrels of oil per day to 22,000bopd.

Chief executive Dr John Doran said this was because during 2006, the recent daily gross production at the fields exceeded the production level initially approved by the government.

The Chinese Government requires all oil production rates to strictly adhere to the approved development plan and as such, production rates at both fields have now been temporarily “constrained”, he said.

“Western oil companies don’t often comes across the concept that oil production may need to be temporarily reduced because a field has out-performed expectations,” Doran said.

“In fact, we are much more familiar with situations where production is reduced because a field has under-performed.”

Operator Roc, which holds a 24.5% interest, and PetroChina, with a 51% interest, are now discussing the annual production forecast for 2007 in order to ensure it reflects the field’s productive capabilities.

“In the meantime, a proposal to expand the production capacity of the fields is being prepared for government consideration so that production may be restored to a higher level,” the company said.

“Roc greatly values its developing relationship with PetroChina and it fully recognises that the government has specific planning criteria, which needs to be reflected in the late 2006 production profile at Zhao Dong,” Doran added.

The company said the temporary reduction at Zhao Dong would not cause it to lose any reserves but will instead defer a small proportion of its production to a “later stage of the fields’ lives”.

In the immediate term, Roc’s net production from Zhao Dong will be reduced by almost 2000bopd, possibly until end-2006. Its company-wide production will drop by about 1000bopd due to a partially offsetting recent increase in production at its Cliff Head oilfield, offshore Western Australia, it said.

Roc, which has a 37.5% interest and is operator of Cliff Head, said recent gross oil production there has generally ranged between 11,000bopd and 12,500bopd, with a high of 15,800bopd.

The range is a result of intermittent downstream constraints, most recently relating to trucking capacity, which are currently being addressed, it said.

Meanwhile, gross production from the Chinguetti oil field, offshore Mauritania, in which Roc has a 3.25% stake, recently averaged about 30,000bopd.