China’s proven oil, gas deposits surge

China’s crude oil and natural gas reserves discovered within its mainland saw sharp rises last year, a natural resources official said. Xu Dachun, vice director in charge of resources exploration with the China’s Ministry of Land and Resources, said China found 1.52 billion tonnes of new crude deposits in 2012, up 13% year on year. Of them, 270 million tonnes can be exploited with current technologies, according to China’s (Xinhua) News Agency. China discovered 961.22 billion cubic meters of natural gas last year, up 33% year on year. The proven reserves also hit a record high, Xu said. Out of the newly found deposits, 500.8 billion can be exploited with current technologies, up 36%. Along with increasing oil and gas discovery, the output of the two fuels rose in 2012. China produced 205 million tonnes of crude oil and 106.76 billion cubic meters of natural gas last year, up 1 and 5.4% year on year, respectively. The output of coal-bed methane, an unconventional gas, stood at 2.57 billion cubic meters, up 24% year on year.