Xinhua | 12-07-2000

Northwest 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.