China had 2.043 billion tons of economically exploitable petroleum reserves at the end of 2006, according to the Ministry of Land and Resources on Thursday.

Natural gas reserves totaled 2.449 trillion cubic meters.

The latest statistics from the ministry show that China discovered 195 million tons of oil reserves in 2006, a rise of 10.8 percent from a year earlier.

According to the ministry, China needs to further enhance exploration of oil resources to ensure energy supply.

(Xinhua News Agency March 30, 2007)