PetroChina has discovered another major gasfield in western Xinjiang, a source from the company's Tarim
unit confirmed Wednesday.
"The gasfield, known as Dabei III, boasts an estimated reserve
of as much as 130 billion cubic meters, and will serve as an
important backup supply source for the west-east gas pipelines," he
said on condition of anonymity.
PetroChina's Beijing office declined to comment but Xinhua
quoted officials in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region as saying
the Hong Kong and New York-listed giant had discovered 130 billion
cu m of natural gas.
The discovery has the potential to be the third largest gas
field in Xinjiang, after Kela II and Dina II Gas fields, said Dai
Jinxin, a researcher with the Research Institute of Petroleum
Exploration and Development affiliated with PetroChina, the
country's largest oil and gas producer.
"Gas fields with reserves of more than 100 billion cu m are
considered giant gas fields even globally," Dai said.
Kela II and Dina II gas fields have proven reserves of 250 and
170 billion cu m.
Since more exploration and evaluation are needed at the new
field, it is too early to give any specific figures, the source
added.
"We will drill more appraisal wells to determine the final
reserve at a cost of around 200 million yuan ($26.6 million)," the
insider said. The field has an initial estimated daily output
capacity of 286,000 cu m.
Although Xinjiang currently lags Sichuan Province in terms of annual natural
gas production, the autonomous region has more reserves, Dai
said.
Reserves in Xinjiang's Tarim Basin are expected to hit around 8
trillion cu m, compared with the Sichuan Basin's 4 trillion cu m,
Dai told China Daily.
Xinjiang produced about 8 billion cu m of natural gas last year,
while Sichuan's output was 15 billion cu m.
"Given that the transportation capacity of the west-east gas
pipeline will increase this year and a second pipeline is being
planned, the discovery in Xinjiang may turn out to be a shot in the
arm to the country's natural gas industry," said Dai.
The first pipeline runs 4,000 km and has a capacity to pump 12
billion cu m of natural gas annually from the Tarim Basin to
Shanghai. It began commercial operation in 2004 and the
transmission capacity is set to be raised to 14 billion cu m this
year.
China National Petroleum Corporation, PetroChina's parent
company, is planning the second west-east gas pipeline with an
annual transmission volume of 30 billion cu m, on which
construction will start next year.
The pipeline will transport gas from central Asian countries -
including Turkmenistan - and Xinjiang to energy-thirsty eastern and
southern China, including Shanghai and Guangdong Province.
According to BP energy statistics for 2006, coal accounted for
70 percent of China's total primary energy consumption; oil, 20.6
percent; natural gas, 2.9 percent; hydropower, 5.6 percent; and
nuclear power, 0.7 percent.
The country plans to increase gas use to 5.3 percent of the
country's total energy mix by 2010, according to the National
Development and Reform Commission, the top economic planner.
(China Daily October 11, 2007)
