(Yicai Global) Aug. 14 -- State-owned energy giant China Petroleum & Chemical, or Sinopec, has discovered 92.1 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the southwest province of Sichuan after increasing its efforts in oil and gas exploration.

The new reserves could produce 2 billion cubic meters of usable gas a year, meeting the demands of 10 million households, China News Service reported, citing an industry expert. Some 40.8 billion cubic meters of the gas is in the Yuan Ba gas fields.

The reserves at Yuan Ba are mostly concentrated between 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters underground, said Guo Xusheng, general manager of Sinopec's exploration unit. The existing 230 billion cubic meters there were found about 7,000 meters down, he added.

The find is a reflection of the quality of gas fields Sinopec has in the region and the potential for further exploration, added Gan Zhenwei, general manager of Sinopec Southwest Oil and Gas.

Sinopec had produced more than 120 billion cubic meters of natural gas in Sichuan as of the end of July, and has discovered 1.2 trillion cubic meters of reserves there.

Editor: James Boynton