OREANDA-NEWS. September 28, 2011. The newly started-up Yuanba gas field in the southwest by China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, or Sinopec Corp, has proven gas reserves of 159.25 Bcm (5.62 Tcf) covering an area of 155.33 sq km, according to a report by the official Xinhua news agency.

The gas find is by far the deepest gas field discovered, the report said, citing information from Sinopec's subsidiary Sinopec Exploration Southern Co.

The figures were examined and approved by the Reserves Assessment Office under the Ministry of Land and Resources, which is the second-largest gas find by Sinopec in the Sichuan gas basin after Puguang gas field, the report said.

In August, Sinopec said that it plans to produce 3.4 Bcm of purified natural gas from processing facilities at the newly started-up Yuanba field in southwest China by end 2015.

The company aims to produce 1.7 Bcm of purified natural gas from the acidic gas treatment facility at the field by end 2013.

The Yuanba gas field is adjacent to Puguang gas field, which commenced production in March 2010.

In its announcement in April 2006 on the discovery of Puguang field, Sinopec said then that aggregate proven recoverable reserves at Puguang was estimated at 251.075 Bcm, while technical recoverable reserves was at 188.304 Bcm, following an assessment done by the ministry by end-2005.

Average daily gas production from Puguang was at 401,000 Mcf/day in 2010, while proven reserves at the field was 2.802 Tcf by end of last year.

Sinopec has been exploring areas adjacent to Puguang in order to secure a solid supply of gas resources for the end-user markets in eastern China and identified Yuanba and Tongnanba gas fields adjacent to Puguang as resource rich fields.

According to earlier estimates by the company, the Puguang gas field has capacity to produce 10.5 Bcm/year of natural gas for 20 years. Sinopec had also set an annual target of 4 Bcm of purified natural gas from the processing facility at Puguang.

Following its announcement of its interim results in late August, Sinopec said that it is targeting to produce 247.2 Bcf of natural gas in the second half of 2011, which would be 4.8% more than the 253.88 Bcf it produced in the first half of the year.