China discovers 'major' new shale oil field

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) – China on Wednesday announced that it has discovered a new “major shale oil field.”

Officials of the Daqing Oilfield told a news conference that the field has predicted geological reserves of about 1.27 billion tons, Chinese public broadcaster CGTN reported.

Oil has so far been found from 43 wells at Daqing, which is located in the northeastern Songliao plain and is China’s biggest oilfield.

China’s energy bill is one of the largest in the world as it mostly depends on imports from the Middle East and other oil exporters.

The Daqing Oilfield was discovered in September 1959 and by 2014 it had “stabilized its production at more than 40 million tons for the 12th consecutive year,” according to information on its website.