OREANDA-NEWS. January 17, 2012. The Changbei field pumped a record 3.5 billion cubic meters of gas in 2011, making it China's largest foreign-held onshore gas project, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Changbei is owned by a joint venture between Chinese state-controlled PetroChina and Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell.

The field has produced 18.33 Bcm of gas since it started up in 2005, according to Tang Jiaqing, an official with the field's operating company.

Changbei is estimated to contain 96.1 Bcm of gas, and the joint venture plans to pump 48 Bcm over the field's 20-year production life, Tang added.

Production at Changbei, a major source of gas for Beijing, was 3.48 Bcm in 2010. The field is located in the Ordos Basin, which stretches across northwestern Shaanxi province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.