The Ordos Basin in northwest China, dubbed the country's energy
bank for the 21st century,' has entered the stage of large-scale
development with a big number of energy projects getting under
construction.
Chinese geologists have, since the 1980s, continuously reported
encouraging new findings in exploring energy resources in the
370,000-square kilometer basin, which covers Shaanxi, Shanxi, Gansu
provinces and Ningxia Hui and Inner Mongolia autonomous
regions.
The basin is proved to have reserves of 8.59 billion tons of oil,
10.7 trillion cubic meters of natural gas and 3.98 trillion tons of
coal, along with rich uranium, underground water and terrestrial
heat resources.
Jia Zhibang, governor of Shaanxi, said the province plans to invest
more than US$1.21 billion in initiating some major energy projects
this year, including a 1.2-million-kw coal-fueled power plant, the
first phase of a 1.2-million-ton carbinol project and a 300,000-ton
PVC project, and an 8-million-ton coal mine.
"After more than ten years of construction, the coal and oil
exploiting industries have taken shape in the province, and the
time is ripe for pacing up development and promoting comprehensive
utilization of resources," said Jia.
In
neighboring Inner Mongolia, the construction of a coal liquefaction
project has started at a cost of US$30 billion in the Shenhua
Group, a major energy company in China. The first phase of the
project is expected to go into operation in 2005.
Energy has long been a bottleneck for China's economic development.
Though China boasts rich mineral resources, the per capita
occupation is only about 90 tons in terms of standard coal, while
the per capita consumption is less than 1.2 tons of standard coal,
which is less than a half of the world's average.
Energy experts agree that as China maintains sustained rapid
economic growth, the country will have an even tighter energy
supply.
The State Council Development and Research Center says in its
latest research report that China's annual economic growth rate is
expected to reach 7 percent to 7.9 percent in the 2001-2010 period,
which will inevitably stimulate greater demand for energy
consumption.
The International Energy Agency predicted that China's energy
demand will grow by 2.7 percent annually in the years to 2030, when
annual demand will reach 3.19 billion tons of standard coal.
Meanwhile, experts are optimistic about the prospects of the Ordos
Basin, saying that China's policy to develop the vast western
region provides a good opportunity for development of energy
resources in the basin.
In
the past decades, China's energy development projects were mostly
located in the eastern part. "But focus of energy development will
gradually be moved to the west as demand further increases with
rapid economic growth in the coastal eastern areas," said oil
expert Wang Daofu, general manager of Changqing Oil Exploration
Company under the China Petrol Group.
Wang's company is now in charge of oil exploration in the Ordos
Basin.
Under China's energy development blueprint, the government has
listed optimizing the structure of energy resources as "the
priority among priorities."
Currently coal and oil products from the Ordos Basin have played an
important role in China's economic development. The basin is now
providing 4.75 billion cubic meters of natural gas to15 large and
medium-sized cities including Beijing and Tianjin. Natural gas will
also be pumped to cities along the eastern coast such as Shanghai
and Nanjing starting this October.
(Xinhua News Agency April 14, 2003)