Shaanxi's first oil shale project to operate by year-end

Yijun, a county in Shaanxi province, plans to build an oil production base in an effort to protect its environment, a county official told China Daily on Sunday.

Cao Quanhu, acting magistrate of Yijun county, said that from October, 2009, Petro China opened a large-scale oil exploration in the county and found there is an oilfield consisting of a hundred million tons of reserve all within the county. On Sept 11, an exploration well produced some 2 tons of oil daily and by now a total of 220 oil wells have been put into operation, producing 50 tons of oil daily.

"An oil production plant is under construction and is expected to be put into operation by the end of 2013, with 100,000 tons of annual output," Cao said.

And Shaanxi province's first oil shale project will also go into operation at the end of the year, and a wind power generation project will also be built in the county, the magistrate added.

Located in the northern part of the province's Tongchuan city, Yijun is on the transition zone of Guanzhong Plain and the Loess Plateau, and has an environment that is well-protected.

According to Cao, the forest coverage of the county reached 48.6 percent and the garbage treatment rate and the sewage treatment rate reached 94 percent and 80 percent respectively.

In order to better protect the county's environment for sustainable development, any project and investment which is harmful to the county's environment will be banned in the county, Cao said.