Chinese oil and gas firm PetroChina is aiming to raise the annual crude oil output to 3 million tonnes in 2021 at a newly discovered oil field in the remote northwestern Xinjiang region, triple this year’s estimated rate, state media reported Nov. 28.

Mahu, located in the Junggar Basin, is named as one of the largest discovery in China after more than a decade of work, Economic Daily reported. PetroChina is keen to boost output at Mahu to 5 million tonnes in 2025.

One of the recently drilled wells, Mahu-015, produced 405.6 cubic meters of oil and 36,000 cubic meters of natural gas a day in test production, the newspaper reported.

China’s top two onshore producers Sinopec and PetroChina are speeding up E&P from major shale oil and gas formations in the country's western regions to boost domestic output.

China’s crude oil output rose 0.3% on year to 16.09 million tonnes, or 3.79 million barrels per day, the second year-on-year increase recorded this year. Natural gas output in October hit the highest since April.