The Tarim gas province consist of two major gas regions (Tabei-kuqa and Taxinan). The Tabei region has becom one of the largest natural gas belts in China. In the north of this region, there exist exceptionally large gas fields. Due to the high relief of topography and complexity of geological structure in the region, traditional exploration methods could not be used .Through nearly ten years of tackling of key technical problems, significant progress was made, such as pioneering of seismic exploration in mountain areas, new interpretation of comprehensive geological results and successful drilling under complex geological conditions.

All those technical innovations have greatly facilitated the development of natural gas in Kuqa area and a giant gas field, Kela No.2 (Kara-Ⅱ) was discovered. The proven reserve of natural gas in this gas field is 250.6 billion cubic meters which makes it a major gas source of the “West-to-East Gas Transmitting Project.” The proven natural gas reserve of the Tarim Basin is 468.8 cubic meters (16.5 TCF). The discovery is a catalyst for the commencement of the project to transmit natural gas from the Tarim Basin to Eastern China.