Changqing Oilfield comprises a dozen of oilfields at the Ordos Basin which covers Shaanxi, Gansu and Shanxi provinces and Inner Mongolia and Ningxia Hui autonomous regions with a combined exploration area of 370,000 sq. km. It is the largest onshore gasfield in China.

The oilfield began to transport oil to Ningxia, Gansu and other provinces in northwest China since the first oil pipeline was laid in 1979. Later, two gas pipelines have become operational to provide gas and oil to 15 large cities including Beijing, Tianjin and Xi'an.

A company official predicted that by 2005, the Changqing Oilfield Company is expected to raise its annual oil and gas output to 30 million tons, becoming a new leading oil supplier.

China is widely regarded as one of the early users of natural gas. However, natural gas only accounts for 2.1 percent of the country's energy structure and some one tenth of the world's average.

Exploration for natural gas in the Ordos Basin has become a strategic move in China's ongoing energy structure adjustment. It will be a stable gas supplier to north, northeast and central China, said a Chinese geologist. Moreover, steady gas supply will help Beijing and other large cities to improve air pollution.

(Xinhua News Agency November 26, 2001)