PETROCHINA Co., Asia’s largest oil and gas producer, has found 308.2 billion cubic meters of technically recoverable gas in southwestern China’s Sichuan Basin, according to parent China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), one of China’s largest gas discoveries in more than a decade.

    China, the top energy user and fourth-largest consumer of gas, is racing to increase supply of the cleaner-burning fuel by boosting domestic exploration and raising imports, as demand is forecast to nearly quadruple between 2011 and 2030.

    The Moxi block of An’yue field was officially certified to hold 440.4 billion cubic meters of proven geological reserves, CNPC said in a report yesterday on its website, citing PetroChina’s exploration and development department.

    PetroChina is now building a production facility able to pump 4 billion cubic meters a year under phase-1 development, which is to be followed by another 6 billion cubic meters/year in a second phase, CNPC said.

    CNPC gave no timeline for the development and did not say how much it would cost.

    The find is “set to provide abundant gas resources to the national gas grids,” said the report.

    China’s largest gas find was announced in 2001 at the Sulige field, in northern China’s Ordos Basin, also operated by PetroChina. That find held proven geological reserves of 533.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas as of 2003.

    PetroChina has since 2011 drilled two exploration wells — Gao Shi-1 and Moxi-8 — in An’yue field, both striking high gas flows, according to the CNPC report. (SD-Agencies)