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Major Xinjiang gasfield found
Beijing—PetroChina has
discovered another major gasfield in western Xinjiang, a source from the
company’s Tarim unit confirmed Wednesday.
“The gasfield, known as Dabei III, boasts an estimated reserve of as
much as 130 billion cubic meters, and will serve as an important backup
supply source for the west-east gas pipelines,” he said on condition of
anonymity. PetroChina’s Beijing office declined to comment but Xinhua
quoted officials in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region as saying the
Hong Kong and New York-listed giant had discovered 130 billion cu m of
natural gas.
The discovery has the potential to be the third largest gas field in
Xinjiang, after Kela II and Dina II Gas fields, said Dai Jinxin, a
researcher with the Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and
Development affiliated with PetroChina, the country’s largest oil and
gas producer.
“Gas fields with reserves of more than 100 billion cu m are considered
giant gas fields even globally,” Dai said.
Kela II and Dina II gas fields have proven reserves of 250 and 170
billion cu m.
Since more exploration and evaluation are needed at the new field, it is
too early to give any specific figures, the source added.
“We will drill more appraisal wells to determine the final reserve at a
cost of around 200 million yuan ($26.6 million),” the insider said. The
field has an initial estimated daily output capacity of 286,000 cu m.
Although Xinjiang currently lags Sichuan Province in terms of annual
natural gas production, the autonomous region has more reserves, Dai
said. Reserves in Xinjiang’s Tarim Basin are expected to hit around 8
trillion cu m, compared with the Sichuan Basin’s 4 trillion cu m, Dai
told China Daily.
Xinjiang produced about 8 billion cu m of natural gas last year, while
Sichuan’s output was 15 billion cu m. “Given that the transportation
capacity of the west-east gas pipeline will increase this year and a
second pipeline is being planned, the discovery in Xinjiang may turn out
to be a shot in the arm to the country’s natural gas industry,” said
Dai. The first pipeline runs 4,000 km and has a capacity to pump 12
billion cu m of natural gas annually from the Tarim Basin to Shanghai.
It began commercial operation in 2004 and the transmission capacity is
set to be raised to 14 billion cu m this year.
China National Petroleum Corporation, PetroChina’s parent company, is
planning the second west-east gas pipeline with an annual transmission
volume of 30 billion cu m, on which construction will start next year.
The pipeline will transport gas from central Asian countries - including
Turkmenistan - and Xinjiang to energy-thirsty eastern and southern
China, including Shanghai and Guangdong Province.
According to BP energy statistics for 2006, coal accounted for 70
percent of China’s total primary energy consumption; oil, 20.6 percent;
natural gas, 2.9 percent; hydropower, 5.6 percent; and nuclear power,
0.7 percent.
The country plans to increase gas use to 5.3 percent of the country’s
total energy mix by 2010, according to the National Development and
Reform Commission, the top economic planner.
—The Daily Mail, China Daily news exchange item |
