URUMQI, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Braving rolling sand dunes in Taklimakan, China's largest desert, Hu Jun carefully operates a roaring bulldozer to blaze a trail through which his coworkers and supplies reach the oil construction sites.

Dubbed the "Sea of Death," the desert is located in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which is known for its harsh landscape, thus posing huge challenges to the oil exploration endeavors.

The mission involves multiple time-consuming processes including geophysical survey and systematic investigation of the geology beneath a designated piece of land. And Hu's job plays a pivotal role in the arduous task.

"The very first step for the survey is to build simple roads in the desert. But, sandy winds sometimes hinder our efforts," said Hu, 48, who works for the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation.

He is responsible for building roads connecting the scattered construction sites with the help of the global positioning system (GPS).

Called "Lone Ranger" by his coworkers, Hu has to consolidate soft sand into roads exceeding 10 km as part of his everyday tasks and forge ahead notwithstanding the dunes.

Geophysical survey is tough but extremely important. Major oil and gas breakthroughs have been made in many parts of the desert. Tarim Oilfield has recently found a gas field that is capable of producing 525,000 cubic meters of natural gas and 1,610 cubic meters of oil on a daily basis in the north of the desert.

Meanwhile, China produced 188.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 195 million tonnes of crude oil in 2020, up 9.8 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively, year on year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

However, the supply of oil and gas holds more potential in the desert. The Tarim Oilfield churned out 30.8 million tonnes of oil equivalent in 2020 and has set a production target of over 40 million tonnes for 2025.

Located about 300 km from the nearest county seat, the camp where Hu and his co-workers live is marred by the absence of cell phone networks. "Despite being monotonous and tough, my job is meaningful," said Hu smiling with pride.

Since last October, Hu and some 300 colleagues have completed the preparations for data collection covering an area of more than 200 square km.

Their relentless efforts have certainly paid off. With the help of geophysical survey workers, 32 large- and medium-sized oil and gas fields have been developed in the Taklimakan Desert area by Tarim Oilfield over the past more than 30 years. The cumulative proven oil and gas reserve hit 2.77 billion tonnes, contributing more than 400 million tonnes of oil equivalent to the country.

"We have a strong spirit of perseverance," said Hu. "No matter how hard it is, the road is right under our feet." Enditem