CNPC charts big investment plan

China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), the country's largest oil and gas producer, plans to invest 200 billion yuan in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region between next year and 2015 to boost economic development in the region, said a company official.

The investment will mainly go toward oil and gas production facilities, oil refining and chemicals manufacturing bases, crude and refined oil reserves and oil and gas pipelines, said Zhou Jiping, vice-president of the company.

Xinjiang has 30 percent of China's onshore oil reserves and 34 percent of the country's natural gas reserves, available statistics indicate. At present, CNPC's largest oil and gas production base and oil refining facilities in western China are all located in Xinjiang.