This is the excitable moment a man discovers a thick black liquid on the ground and shouts in excitement believing he has discovered oil and will soon be fantastically rich.

The resident had been travelling near the Kanas Scenic Area in Altay Prefecture in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China when he stumbled upon what he believed to be oil seeping from a hill, giving him dreams of sudden wealth.

The man exclaimed 'I'm rich!', thinking he had found oil during the incident on Saturday, July 20.

He observed the substance flowing along the hill and touched it before gathering up some samples together with his friends and taking them to the Natural Resources Bureau for examination.

In the coming days, they revealed how they intended to have specialists from Urumqi perform an on-site examination.

However, on July 23, the Burqin County Natural Resources Bureau issued a statement addressing the rumours regarding the suspected oil discovery in Altay.

The bureau verified that the black fluid was found to be the product of asphalt from a nearby road melting at high temperatures, so it was not oil as first thought, and this was confirmed following on-site examinations and verification.