North China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region said that its proven natural gas reserve amounted to 1.4 trillion cu m in 2008, the highest among all provinces.

Xinjiang has an estimated natural gas reserve of 10.8 trillion cu m, accounting for a quarter of China's continental total. Last year, the province saw record growth in gas output, transmission volume and proven reserve, said the China News.

"Because of increased efforts in gas exploration, we made some major gas discoveries last year," said Chen Xinfa, general manager of Xinjiang Oilfield Co, a subsidiary of China's largest oil and gas producer China National Petroleum Corp. "The total amount of gas reserve found last year equals to the combined discovery over the past fifty years," he said.

Xinjiang Oilfield Co discovered an additional 138.4 billion cu m gas reserve in the southern rims and the center of Junggar Basin.

Xinjiang's Tarim Basin has remained the nation's largest gas field producing more than 17 billion cu m of gas. It is said to have a proven gas reserve of 1 trillion cu m.

China's gas output reached 76 billion cu m in 2008, 12.3 percent more than that of 2007, said China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association on Jan 31.