The Secretary of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Party Committee, Ma Xingrui, has recently made an in-depth visit to the Zhundong Economic and Technological Development Zone to conduct on-the-spot research into coal development, industrial progress, and the advancement of coal-to-gas projects. During the visit, Ma Xingrui emphasized that Xinjiang needs to play a bigger role in the national energy supply guarantee and contribute more to the country.
Energy is not only the “food” needed by industry but also the lifeline of national economic development. Energy security has a pivotal impact on the socio-economic development of the country. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized at the symposium on promoting the development of the western region in the new era held in Chongqing that it is necessary to focus on both development and security, and improve the security capabilities in key areas such as energy resources. Therefore, accelerating the formation of a new type of energy system and expanding and strengthening the nation’s important energy bases is a matter of urgency.
Xinjiang is home to abundant energy resources and is an important energy base for the country. According to reports from the Xinjiang Daily, Xinjiang firmly establishes the strategic positioning of the “national energy resources strategic security base” and resolutely places the “development and expansion of the oil and gas production and processing industry cluster” at the forefront of the eight major industry clusters. Xinjiang has become a major export region of oil and gas resources in China, with its proven oil reserves ranking first in the country and natural gas reserves second, with oil and gas production leading the country for three consecutive years.
Following General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech at the symposium on promoting the development of the western region in the new era, the Theoretical Learning Center Group of the Xinjiang Party Committee organized the special study session. Ma Xingrui stated that he would actively promote the construction of a new power system, increase oil and natural gas reserves and production, clean and efficient use of coal, as well as the development of key tasks such as “sending Xinjiang power out” and “transporting Xinjiang coal out.”
In addition, Xinjiang held the first meeting of the Xinjiang Strategic Mineral Resources Committee, which emphasized the importance of promoting a new round of mineral exploration breakthrough strategies, and called for the acceleration of the exploration and development of strategic mineral resources to ensure national energy resource security.
During his visit to the Zhundong Economic and Technological Development Zone, Ma Xingrui proposed that full advantage should be taken of the critical role of Xinjiang’s coal resources and industry in the national economic situation, to continuously provide impetus for high-quality economic and social development in the region. According to the Xinjiang Daily, oil and gas exploration and development research became one of the key focuses of Ma Xingrui’s research. He repeatedly emphasized the importance of increasing oil and gas reserves and production in many meetings. This point is particularly important in the strategic planning of the Autonomous Region Party Committee.
Xinjiang, as an important base for China’s coal resources, has a total resource of approximately 2.19 trillion tons, accounting for 40.6% of the total coal resources in the country, ranking first in the nation. This resource-rich region, especially the Zhundong Economic and Technological Development Zone, named after the southeastern edge of the Junggar Basin in Xinjiang, is currently the largest integrated coalfield in China. Established in September 2012, it is not only at the heart of Xinjiang’s fourteenth coal base but also a large-scale coal-electricity coal chemical industry demonstration area, bearing the responsibility of promoting rapid development of the local coal industry.
It is understood that the reserves of a single coalfield in Zhundong could support the entire country’s coal mining for a century. Faced with such vast coal resources, how to develop and utilize them has become a major issue for decision-makers.
In a recent survey, leaders went deep into the development zone to listen to the introduction of the development of the coal industry in Zhundong and conducted field inspections of the mining operations, key project constructions, and safety production implementations of several major coal mines. Based on this, it was emphasized that it is necessary to continuously promote the stable and increased production of coal, and to enhance its safe and stable supply capacity. Equally important is to focus on strengthening the deep processing and transformation of coal on-site, improving the level of clean and efficient utilization, and vigorously strengthening the development of the modern coal chemical industry.
For this reason, it is necessary to scientifically assess production capacity, organize production actively and efficiently to ensure smooth continuity and a steady increase in coal production, thus effectively safeguarding the nation’s energy security. Advanced technical support is indispensable, and efforts should be made to build modern open-pit coal mines that are safe, secured, and highly intelligent to continue to work towards the goal of creating a large-scale coal supply base in Xinjiang.
Particularly, the construction progress of the coal-to-natural gas projects has become a focal point of attention. The coal gasification projects are seen as a key point in optimizing and upgrading Xinjiang’s coal industry to help Zhundong become a national strategic base for coal-to-oil and gas. In this regard, the specific requirements to strengthen research on key core technologies for coal transformation, expand the pathways for coal to be transformed into raw materials and substances, and to accelerate the implementation of industrial projects like coal-to-oil and gas have been proposed. The purpose is to push coal towards higher value and better efficiency development and to inject new momentum into the transformation and development.
The development of coal-to-oil and gas has its special significance. China is a country “rich in coal, poor in oil, and short in gas,” and by transforming coal into oil and gas, it can partially substitute imports to some extent. Although the substitution may not be huge, it is necessary to form a certain emergency preparedness.
Coal-to-Liquids and GasInvestigation
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