Xinjiang becomes major oil, gas production base
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-08-22 14:51

Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has become the country's major oil and gas production base with its crude oil output predicted to reach 50 million tons by 2010.

Geological surveys show Xinjiang's oil and natural gas deposits stand at an equivalent of 30 billion tons of oil, accounting for one fourth of the nation's total.

In early August, natural gas pumped out at the Tarim Oilfield in Xinjiang began to be transported to Beijing through the west-to-east gas pipeline.

After New China was founded in 1949, the country has developed three major oilfields, namely Karamy, Tarim and Turpan-Hami, in Xinjiang. Since 1993, crude oil production in the autonomous region has kept increasing at an annual average rate of more than 1 million tons, ranking first in the country.

With the fast development of the oil industry, Xinjiang produced 22.28 million tons of crude oil last year, compared with 52,000 tons in 1952.

Last December, the Karamy Oilfield built a heavy oil concentrated processing project, with a designed annual production capacity of 5 million tons. The project is expected to earn 10 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion) for the oilfield.

The Dushanzi Petrochemical Co under PetroChina, one of China's two major onshore oil producers, is building an oil refining project with a designed annual production capacity of 10 million tons and an ethylene project with a designed production capacity of 1.2 million tons. The two projects involve an estimated total investment of 27.7 billion yuan (US$3.4 billion).

Upon their completion, the company will become China's largest petrochemical works with 26.2 billion yuan (US$3.2 billion) in annual sales income and 10 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion) in annual pre-tax profits.

From 2004 to 2010, Xinjiang will build four large petrochemical production bases in Karamy, Urumqi, Turpan-Harmi and the southern part of the region.

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