PetroChina Strikes Large Flows in Tarim Exploration Well

PetroChina Co Ltd struck sizeable oil and gas flows in an exploration well in the Tarim basin of the remote northwestern region of Xinjiang, marking a breakthrough in exploring an earlier untapped region, parent CNPC said on Thursday.

Zhongqiu-1 well tested a daily natural gas flow of 330,000 cubic metres and 21.4 cubic metres of condensate, a super light crude oil, CNPC said on its news portal news.cnpc.com.cn.

The well is located in the southern part of Kuche trough in the Tarim basin and part of an exploration zone with a size of 5,200 square kilometers.

PetroChina aims to build by 2020 an annual output of 30 million tonnes of oil equivalent in the Tarim basin, including about 26 billion cubic meters of natural gas production, the CNPC report said.

CNPC said last month newly discovered oilfield Mahu in the Junggar basin of Xinjiang, is expected to produce 3 million tonnes of oil in 2021, tripling this year's estimated rate.

China's national oil and gas producers have pledged to expand domestic oil and gas exploration and production following an instruction from President Xi Jinping to boost national energy security.

(Reporting by Chen Aizhu; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)