OREANDA-NEWS. December 28, 2011. China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) announced Tuesday that it has started large-scale exploration of the Lukqun Oil Field in northwestern Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, which has the world's deepest heavy oil reserve.

The company said its subsidiary, Turpan-Hami Oil Field Co., opened 113 oil wells in Lukqun this year. Daily oil output in the field reached 1,100 tons in December.

CNPC planned to drill another 70 new wells in 2012 to expand its production capacity by 100,000 tons.

 The oil field, situated in Lukqun, north of Aydingkol Lake in Turpan Basin, has oil reserves estimated at 100 million tons. The lake is the world's second-most low-lying land after the Dead Sea.