Xinjiang to Become China's 2nd Largest Oil Production CenterNorthwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region will become the nation's second largest oil production center and largest natural gas production center by the year 2005.Over the next five years the region is expected to verify oil reserves totaling 3.3 billion tons and gas reserves reaching 1.16 trillion cubic meters. It plans to increase its annual crude oil production to 24 million tons, and annual gas production to 18 billion cubic meters. Xinjiang, known as the "sea of hope", has a lot of sediment basins with a total area of 900,000 sq km. According to an official report on resource assessment, oilfields in Xinjiang have oil deposits estimated at 20.86 billion tons and natural gas deposits estimated at 10.3 trillion cubic meters. The region accounts for 30 percent and 34 percent of the nation's on-land crude oil and natural gas resources, respectively. To date, the China National Petroleum Corporation and the China National Petrochemical Corporation., the nation's two oil giants, both have taken Xinjiang as their priority investment areas. |
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