URUMQI – Chinese state media ecns.cn reported Wednesday that new oil reserves totaling 55.56 million tons have been identified in the Tarim Basin of Uyghurstan (officially called Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region by China), prompting renewed discussion about resource exploitation in the region.
The discovery, made through joint research by Chinese state entities including the China Geological Survey and major oil companies, represents another significant find in the traditional homeland of the Uyghur people, where local communities have historically seen limited economic benefit from extensive resource extraction activities.
The newly identified reserves, located in the Kopin Fault Block area, are part of a 180-kilometer oil- and gas-rich zone that has already attracted 6 billion yuan ($818 million) in investment from Chinese companies. While the development promises an annual production capacity of one million tons of oil and gas, local Uyghur economists and community leaders express concern about continuing patterns of resource management that have characterized previous extractive projects in the region.
“This discovery highlights the ongoing pattern of resource exploitation in our homeland,” said Tursunjan, a U.S based Uyghur activist. “The Tarim Basin’s vast natural resources have been systematically extracted for decades, with profits primarily benefiting state-owned enterprises while local Uyghur communities, the traditional custodians of this land, see minimal economic returns.”
The Kopin Fault Block area, spanning approximately 20,000 square kilometers, is part of a larger geological formation estimated to contain about 19 billion tons of oil equivalent. This latest discovery appears to strengthen China’s control over the region’s substantial natural resources, adding to existing concerns about economic disparities and resource management practices.
The announcement comes amid ongoing discussions about economic rights and resource sovereignty in the region, where local communities have long sought greater involvement in and benefit from natural resource development projects.
