China's Ministry of Land and Resources reports the second largest discovery of reserves since 1949.
Annual discoveries of oil and gas reserves went up by 20.6% from 2010 to 1.37 billion tons of proven geographical resources in 2011, according to Xu Dachun, Deputy Head of the ministry's Mineral Resources Reserve Department.
Of the new discoveries, technically recoverable oil reserves totalled 266 million tons, up 21.4% year-on-year. The findings represent the second-largest annual discovery of oil and gas reserves since the founding of the P.R.C. in 1949.
Proven geographical gas deposits were also up 29.6% from 2010, with 765.95 billion cubic meters (bcm) discovered last year. Technically recoverable gas deposits also climbed 37.6% to 395.67 bcm, said Xu.
China imports more than 55% of its total oil supplies, and is set to become the biggest consumer of oil by 2030. Official reports, however, have not specified the nation's remaining proven oil and gas reserves which are technically recoverable or commercially viable.