Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in Northwest China has for the first time outstripped Heilongjiang Province, in the northeast, as China's top natural gas and oil producer.

Latest data from four major northwestern oil and gas bases revealed that Xinjiang produced 26.4 million tons of crude oil and 21.2 billion cubic meters (cu m) of gas last year, or 43.3 million tons of oil equivalent.

The latter figure represented a rise of 13.6 percent from 2006.

Xinjiang, with estimated reserves of 20.8 billion tons of oil and 10.8 trillion cu m of gas, has been designated as a strategic area to replace Heilongjiang in China's oil industry.

Three northwestern basins - Tarim, Junggar and Turpan-Hami - alone have 3.8 billion tons of proven geological petroleum reserves, plus 1.3 trillion cu m of proven natural gas reserves.

The four northwestern bases are projected to produce 46.6 million tons of oil equivalent this year, or 7.6 percent more than in 2007.

Heilongjiang, which has the Daqing oilfield, turned out 41.16 million tons of oil and 2.5 billion cu m of gas, or 43.26 million tons of oil equivalent, in 2007.