State-owned PetroChina Ltd., Asia's biggest producer, is probably losing quite serious amounts of money, said Petrov. He said PetroChina has to decide whether to follow the lead of Western producers and slash spending on new wells. If it cuts investment, and because of the nature of China's oilfields, it will take a very long time for production to come back up, said Petrov. It will take years and even more money. Beijing also appears to be adding to its strategic stockpile, though details are secret. The Cabinet's National Energy Administration reported in September that total reserves held by the government and oil companies were equal to 80 days of consumption.