A new oil field containing approximately 1 billion tons of crude was discovered in China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, reports said Tuesday.
According to the China Radio International (CRI), Petro China, one of the country's largest energy firms, found the field in Ma lake area of Jungar (Dzungarian) Basin located north of the region.
The field is dubbed as one of the largest reserves in the world.
Petro China has produced 1.38 million tons of crude oil in Xinjiang in the last two years, and plans to raise its output from the region to 6 million tons in accordance with the country's 13th five-year development plan (2016-2020).
The autonomous region, which lies to the northwest of the world's largest energy consumer China, contains various resources including gold, platinum, silver, uranium and coal, in addition to oil.
The region's resources, cheaper labor and strategic position – which allows China to directly reach Central Asian countries as well as Afghanistan and Pakistan – prompted an economic boom in Xinjiang over the last decade. This uptick attracted internal migration of Han Chinese from the country's eastern parts, leading to tensions with Uighur community.
