The First Oil Well in Xinjiang

The First Oil Well in Xinjiang

The First Oil Well in Xinjiang is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The First Oil Well in Xinjiang

The "First Oil Well in Xinjiang" in Xin-Shanzi has recently been included in the list of the Sixth Batch of Autonomous Region-Level Cultural Relics Protection Units approved by the People's Government of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

According to *Illustrated Gazetteer of Xinjiang*, "There are two oil springs in Dushanzi—one at the southern foot and one at the western foot. The oil is dark purple in color, floating on the surface of the water, abundant in summer and drying up in winter." In 1909, the local government of Xinjiang spent 300,000 taels of silver to purchase machinery from Russia and drilled the first oil well in Xinjiang at Dushanzi. *Illustrated Gazetteer of Xinjiang* described it as: "The well is seven or eight zhang deep, with sounds inside like surging waves, oil and gas steaming and gushing out directly." "When ignited, the flame rises several feet high." Crude oil samples sent to Baku, Russia, for testing showed that "over 60 jin of pure oil could be extracted from every 100 jin." Dushanzi is located about 270 kilometers north of Ürümqi.

In May 2013, the First Oil Well in Xinjiang was listed as part of the Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units