Xinhua News Agency, Urumqi, January 8 (Reporter Gu Yu) In the cold winter, the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang is cold and windy. In the endless Gobi desert, a breath well is continuously exploiting natural gas from the depths of thousands of meters of strata, and is transported to thousands of households through the southern Xinjiang natural gas Limin Pipeline.

According to the relevant person in charge of China Petroleum Tarim Oilfield, in 2024, the oilfield supplied natural gas to the five southern prefectures in Xinjiang, reaching 7.35 billion cubic meters, an increase of 740 million cubic meters year-on-year, and the annual gas supply reached a record high, providing important guarantees for gas use by people of all ethnic groups around the Tarim Basin, optimization of local energy consumption structure, and green and low-carbon transformation of development mode.

On December 9, 2024, employees of Tarim Oilfield were checking the operation of equipment in the site. (Photo by Huang Wei)

In the past, urban and rural people around the Tarim Basin mainly used firewood and coal as their fuel for daily life. In order to solve the problem of gas use by local people, in June 1998, the Tarim Oilfield began to implement the "Gasification Southern Xinjiang" project. In August 2013, after the project of natural gas benefiting the people in the southern Xinjiang project was put into production, it became a continuation and expansion of the "Gasification of Southern Xinjiang" project. According to the calculations of Tarim Oilfield, 7.35 billion cubic meters of natural gas are equivalent to 9.7755 million tons of standard coal, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 10.3757 million tons compared with coal burning.

"In 2024, we will accelerate the improvement of the natural gas supply capacity of the five southern prefectures in Xinjiang." Xin Wanchun, deputy director of the Production and Operation Department of Tarim Oilfield, introduced that since 2024, the oilfield has focused on promoting the improvement of production capacity of gas fields such as Hotanhe, Kirkya, and Akmomu, breaking the code of stable production of old wells. At the same time, it has continuously deepened basic research in basins, increased efforts in oil and gas exploration and development, and effectively improved the peak-shaving and supply capacity of natural gas in southern Xinjiang.

As of now, the Tarim Oilfield has supplied more than 65 billion cubic meters of gas to the five southern prefectures in Xinjiang.