URUMQI -- The Xinjiang branch of PetroChina, China's largest oil and gas producer, said it has so far churned out more than 17 million tons of crude oil and natural gas this year, hitting a record high.

The Xinjiang Oilfield Company said they had drilled 722 wells in Xinjiang's Junggar Basin this year, producing 14.09 million tons of crude oil and 3.75 billion cubic meters of natural gas.

"This year, we accelerated the natural gas and oil exploitation and technological innovation in Mahu, a mega oilfield with a proven oil reserve exceeding 1 billion tons, and Jimsar, a national-level demonstration zone for continental shale oil, which strongly supported the new breakthroughs in oil and gas production in Xinjiang Oilfield," said Dai Yong, director of the exploitation division of the company.

Xinjiang Oilfield is the first large oilfield built after the founding of the People's Republic of China. It focuses on the exploration and development of the Junggar Basin, covering 18 businesses such as scientific research, oil and gas pre-exploration, reservoir evaluation, as well as oil and gas exploitation, production, storage, transportation, and sales.

To date, the company has developed 33 oil and gas fields, producing nearly 430 million tons of crude oil and 99 billion cubic meters of natural gas.