Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China has for the
first time outstripped Heilongjiang Province, in the northeast, as
China's top natural gas and oil producer.
Latest data from four major northwestern oil and gas bases
revealed that Xinjiang produced 26.4 million tons of crude oil and
21.2 billion cubic meters of gas last year, or 43.3 million tons of
oil equivalent.
The latter figure represented a rise of 13.6 percent from
2006.
Xinjiang, with estimated reserves of 20.8 billion tons of oil
and 10.8 trillion cu m of gas, has been designated as a strategic
area to replace Heilongjiang in China's oil industry.
Three northwestern basins -- Tarim, Junggar and Turpan-Hami --
alone have 3.8 billion tons of proven geological petroleum
reserves, plus 1.3 trillion cu m of proven natural gas
reserves.
The four northwestern bases are projected to produce 46.6
million tons of oil equivalent this year, or 7.6 percent more than
in 2007.
Heilongjiang, which has the Daqing oilfield, turned out 41.16
million tons of oil and 2.5 billion cu m of gas, or 43.26 million
tons of oil equivalent, in 2007.
(Xinhua News Agency January 4, 2008)
