A major natural gas field has been discovered in the southwest China's Sichuan Basin. Yuanba Gas Field is considered to be one of the country's deepest natural gas fields ever found. After five years exploration, results show the 7,000-meter deep field has nearly 160 billion cubic meters of natural gas. The field lies beneath three areas of Guangyuan and Nanchong and Bazhong of Sichuan Province, covering about 500 square kilometers. Analysts estimate the total gas reserve are around 800 billion cubic meters. Exploration will be completed in 2013 with commercial supplies beginning in 2015.