Natural resources in Northeast China will continue to increase, according to an official at the Ministry of Land and Resources.

The tonne of oil equivalent — the amount of energy released by burning one ton of crude oil — in the northeast will reach 73 million metric tons in 2030, up from 60 million tons last year, the official said.

By the end of 2011, compared with previous estimates, oil resources in the area increased by 34 percent to 22.5 billion tons, with exploitable resources of 7.2 billion tons, the ministry said.

Natural gas resources increased by 127 percent to 4,500 billion cubic meters, with exploitable resources of 2,500 billion cubic meters.

Exploitable shale gas reserves in the area reached 1,700 billion cubic meters.