A major gas field has been discovered in southwest China's
Sichuan Province, it was announced over the
weekend - which experts said would add to energy security and boost
the development of the western region.
A total of 3.8 trillion cubic meters of natural gas deposits
have been found in the western part of the Sichuan Basin, said
officials in Dazhou, where the reserve is located.
They include proven exploitable reserves of newly-discovered 244
billion cubic meters - around four years of current production -
and the already-announced 356 billion cubic meters in Puguang gas
field.
Till the latest discovery, amounting to a total of 600 billion
cubic meters of exploitable reserves, the largest gas field was in
Sulige, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Discovered last year, it
has exploitable reserves of 533.6 billion cubic meters.
Last Wednesday, a large gas field with reserves of nearly 30
billion cubic meters was discovered in Karamay, the Xinjiang Uygur
Autonomous Region.
China had about 2.4 trillion cubic meters of economically-viable
natural gas reserves at the end of 2006, the Ministry of Land and
Resources said in March.
According to the energy development plan released by the
National Development and Reform Commission - the country's top
economic planner - China plans to nearly double its annual natural
gas production from 49.3 billion cubic meters in 2005 to 92 billion
cubic meters by 2010.
Natural gas consumption will soar to more than 100 billion cubic
meters by 2010 from the nearly 50 billion cubic meters in 2005.
With the increasing need for energy, China has strengthened
exploration efforts to ensure energy safety, which experts say is
vital to reduce China's reliance on imports.
The latest gas discovery comes days after the country announced
the finding of a mega-scale oilfield - Jidong Nanpu oilfield in
Bohai Bay of north China's Hebei Province.
The oilfield is expected to have reserves of 1 billion tons, or
about 7.35 billion barrels, the largest discovery in the country in
more than four decades.
By 2010, the newly-found gas deposits in Dazhou will raise the
city's gas output to 24 billion cubic meters, said Li Xiangzhi,
Party secretary of Dazhou.
Li said that Dazhou is set to become a natural gas and chemical
center in western China.
Dazhou, located in eastern Sichuan, covers an area of 16,600
square km with a population of 6.46 million.
China National Petroleum Corporation, the country's biggest oil
and gas producer, and Sinopec Corporation, China's largest refiner,
plan to build five purification plants in Dazhou and are expected
to process 74 million cubic meters a day by 2010.
A 30 square-km natural gas and chemical industrial park is
planned about 6 km away from the city.
(China Daily May 28, 2007)
