In the past 10 years, BGP has grown from a service company dedicated to its owner's requirements, China's CNPC, to the largest land contractor in the world geophysical services market. The path wasn't easy. We had 35 years of experience in the China domestic geophysical industry before we tried our first commercial venture in the international market. At that time, 1994, we had competitive, but not the latest, instruments and had experience with conditions in China. Technically and practically we could function, but other problems became acute. As was the case, I imagine, in every worldwide geophysical contractor's history, we had the same cultural and language problems in our early international operations. Not to mention that the Chinese culture and language are very distinct from Western cultures. To bridge this huge gap, our training center in China teaches courses continuously. Local employees in other countries receive an introduction to Chinese culture and work ethics, while our Chinese employees take intensive language training and an introduction to the host country's culture and social customs. We run language courses in English, Arabic, Spanish, French, Farsi and others. The company has two official languages, Mandarin Chinese and English. Employees wishing an international assignment must pass an English examination and show continued improvement through their careers. In 1994 we had our first interaction with modern HSE standards when several major international oil companies conducted exploration surveys in China. BGP learned a great deal about safety and the environment at the insistence of these companies, and we owe them a debt of gratitude. Although BGP was clearly behind our competitors at that point, we commenced an accelerated program bringing our operations and safety awareness to an acceptable level. We faced another hurdle in international business practices. Chinese geophysical business managers, in general, had limited experience as representatives of BGP and lacked familiarity with international business standards and practices. This made our early negotiations slow and tedious as we absorbed experience and built relationships with subcontractors, clients and government agencies. We had to learn how to be a competitor where previously we had been a branch of a Chinese oil company with little competitive pressure. At the same time, we selected promising candidates and sent them to Chinese and Western universities to study business practices and to receive intensive language and cultural training. This program continues today, and many of the early participants have assumed responsible positions in our organization. We also have a growing contingent of non-Chinese employees who make contributions to our operations. Our business now serves a broad spectrum of international clients from small independent exploration companies, to international oil majors, as well as national oil enterprises. We are running 40 field crews in the international arena and over 60 crews in China. We will gradually enter the deepwater marine acquisition market and build up our experiences and resources, while continuing to expand our international land activities. BGP has worked hard to earn a place among the competitors in the international geophysical services industry.

Mr. Wang Tiejun is president of BGP, a geophysical services contractor owned by China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).

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