The biggest oil discovery in China for 10 years has been made in the Ordos Basin in the country's north.

　　The discovery, of about 400 million tons (3 billion barrels) of oil, was made at the Xifeng field in the southwest of the basin.

　　China National Petroleum Corp, China's biggest oil group, began exploration of the Xifeng field in October 2001.

　　Exploration is still going on and further oil may be found, according to an official quoted on the Website oilnews.com.

　　Industry observers said the new discovery will reduce China's dependency on imported crude oil.

　　The 310 oil wells operating in the Xifeng field produce 1,500 tons a day.

　　"The newly found reserve is a rather large one and will ease China's thirst for crude oil in the long run," said Wang Lingli, a researcher with Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

　　China's fast-growing economy has triggered a big demand for crude and China is increasing crude imports.

　　Crude prices touched a high of US$41.24 a barrel yesterday.

　　Li Zhipeng, an analyst with Xiangcai Securities Co Ltd, said rising crude prices and growing oil imports could put pressure on China's economic development.

　　The country imported about 91 million tons of crude in 2003, a year-on-year increase of 31.3 percent.

　　Industry insiders expect an annual growth in imports of 10 percent for several years.

　　Wang said seeking China's own oil reserves was better than buying imported crude.

　　The new find is fortuitous at a time when output from China's largest oil field is shrinking.

　　Xinhua news agency reported in March that Daqing oil field has only 500 million tons of recoverable reserves and annual crude oil output will fall to 30 million tons by 2010.