Water resource was scarce in Karamay oilfields in the early 1960s. In order to ensure basic living and working conditions, a working group of 2,600 people, including oil workers and their families, started to build a canal stretching out 75 kilometers. It took the group two years to finish it. Today, people call it "Karamay Canal". [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Researchers study the oil extracted from a rock oil field in Karamay to improve oil production technology. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The late 1970s saw a major breakthrough in Karamay's oil refining technology. The transformer oil produced by the Duzishan Oil Refining Factory in Karamay was praised as the best quality oil in October 1979. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]