Experts said that the major gas field announced to be discovered in Southwest China's Sichuan Province would add to energy security and boost the development of the western region.

A total of 3.8 trillion cubic meters of natural gas deposits have been found in the western part of the Sichuan Basin, said officials in Dazhou, where the reserve is located.

They include proven exploitable reserves of newly-discovered 244 billion cubic meters - around four years of current production - and the already-announced 356 billion cubic meters in Puguang gas field.

Till the latest discovery, amounting to a total of 600 billion cubic meters of exploitable reserves, the largest gas field was in Sulige, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Discovered last year, it has exploitable reserves of 533.6 billion cubic meters.

Last Wednesday, a large gas field with reserves of nearly 30 billion cubic meters was discovered in Karamay, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

China had about 2.4 trillion cubic meters of economically-viable natural gas reserves at the end of 2006, the Ministry of Land and Resources said in March.

According to the energy development plan released by the National Development and Reform Commission - the country's top economic planner - China plans to nearly double its annual natural gas production from 49.3 billion cubic meters in 2005 to 92 billion cubic meters by 2010.

Natural gas consumption will soar to more than 100 billion cubic meters by 2010 from the nearly 50 billion cubic meters in 2005.

With the increasing need for energy, China has strengthened exploration efforts to ensure energy safety, which experts say is vital to reduce China's reliance on imports.

The latest gas discovery comes days after the country announced the finding of a mega-scale oilfield - Jidong Nanpu oilfield in Bohai Bay of North China's Hebei Province.

The oilfield is expected to have reserves of 1 billion tons, or about 7.35 billion barrels, the largest discovery in the country in more than four decades.

By 2010, the newly-found gas deposits in Dazhou will raise the city's gas output to 24 billion cubic meters, said Li Xiangzhi, Party secretary of Dazhou.

Li said that Dazhou is set to become a natural gas and chemical center in western China.

Dazhou, located in eastern Sichuan, covers an area of 16,600 square km with a population of 6.46 million.

China National Petroleum Corporation, the country's biggest oil and gas producer, and Sinopec Corporation, China's largest refiner, plan to build five purification plants in Dazhou and are expected to process 74 million cubic meters a day by 2010.

A 30 square-km natural gas and chemical industrial park is planned about 6 km away from the city.