Qinghai Oilfield Increases Crude Oil Output

The crude oil output of the Qinghai Oilfield in the Qaidam Basin of northwestern China's Qinghai Province topped two million tons at the end of last year.

This is the first time that the annual crude oil output of the oilfield has exceeded two million tons, said Huang Ligong, general manager of the Qinghai Branch of the China National Petroleum Corporation.

Since 1998, considerable efforts have been made to upgrade production technology at the oilfield, the official said.

Thanks to advanced technologies and techniques adopted at oilfield, daily output has now risen at least by five times the 1998 level.

Prospecting and exploration results prove that the oilfield has stored 4.2 billion tons of oil and 150 billion cubic meters of natural gas.

A five-year plan has been made for the oilfield to contribute to the development of mid-western China. According to the plan, annual crude oil output is aimed to be increased by five million tons by the year 2005.

The oilfield, in the northern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, has produced a total of more than 20 million tons of crude oil and refined an additional nine million tons of oil since it began operation in 1954.

People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/