A nationwide project was launched to assess the potential capacity of China's oil and natural gas resources and establish a national database on them, the Ministry of Land and Resources announced.
The ministry said the project would target more than 400 major sources of oil and natural resources and would provide a basis for determining the national strategy for future economic development.
With the rapid development of the economy China has become increasingly dependent on imported crude oil and the central government attaches the same importance to oil and natural gas resources as grain and water.