SUNWING ENERGY LTD. - CANADIAN COMPANY CONCLUDES HISTORIC PRODUCTION SHARING CONTRACT WITH CHINA NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION BEIJING, Sept. 8/CNW/AsianeT/ - A signing ceremony was held in Beijing today in Diaoyutai State Guesthouse to mark a major production-sharing contract between a subsidiary of Sunwing Energy Ltd. of Canada and the China National Petroleum Corporation ("CNPC"). CNPC is China's national oil company responsible for the vast majority of the company's onshore production, with 1996 annual production in excess of one billion barrels. Pan-China Resources, the party to the agreement, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sunwing Energy. The contract entitles Sunwing, through its subsidiary, to develop six blocks covering over 90 square meters in the Dagang oil field near Tianjin in Hebei Province. The contract is expected to generate revenue of approximately US$1,400 million for the parties involved during the anticipated 20-year life of the project.The agreement is the largest production-sharing contract ever awarded to a foreign company for development projects. The Dagang oilfield is the fourth largest producing field in China, with annual production in excess of 31 million barrels. The oil in the Dagang Blocks is found at depths ranging from 1800 to 3700 metres and is light crude. Drilling and production testing of 82 exploration wells and seismic surveys by the Dagang Oilfield Group, Pan-China Resources' operating partner, have been used to map an estimated original volume of nearly 400 million barrels of oil-in-place within the blocks. Total oil production is scheduled to peak at more than 36,000 barrels per day in year 2003. According to the agreeement, the parties will joinly develop the oil while Pan-China Resources will contribute foreign technological and management skills. The oil extracted oil will be shared between CNPC and Pan-China Resources. Pan-China Resources will launch a pilot operation next year. Full production is expected to commence in 1999. Present at today's signing ceremony were Zhou Yongkang, President of CNPC: Zeng Xinggiu, Vice-President of China National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Corporation; Zhang Xin, Vice-Director of the International Bureau (CNPC); Robert Friedland and Patrick Chua, Co-Chairmen of Pan-China Resources ; Gerry Moench, President of Pan-China Resources; the Canadian Ambassador to China; and several senior officials of China's State Planning Commission and Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation and the Government of Alberta. Also present were senior representatives of numerous major Asian and international banks and other financial institutions from China, Hong Kong and Singapore. "The Dagang Project is another significant step in what we intend to be a long-term relationship with CNPC as our strategic partner," said Pan-Asia Resources Co-Chairman Patrick Chua. "We are scheduled to begin drilling the initial wells later this year on our first China project in the Zhaozhou oil field in Daging, and we are currently considering other oil and gas opportunities in China." Sunwing Energy, which was founded by Robert Friedland, is an affiliate of the Ivanhoe Capital Group of Singapore. Sunwing Energy and Pan-China Resources are privately-owned companies. Management is planning for an initial public offering of share in Sunwing Energy in Asia in 1998.For further information : Patrick Chua, Co-Chairman or Gerry Moench, President at Calgary, (403) 263-8808, Beijing 011-86-10-6505-1516 or 011-86-10-6505-1517 or 011-86-10-6505-1518/