Qijiang shale gas field adds new geological reserve of 145.9 billion cubic meters
BEIJING, 25 November, 2022 – China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation’s (“Sinopec”) has announced that the first phase of the Qijiang shale gas field has uncovered a major discovery in Sichuan Basin with a proven geological reserve of 145.968 billion cubic meters.
The discovery, delivered by Sinopec Exploration Company and Sinopec Southwest Oil & Gas Company, is a major breakthrough in Sinopec’s “Project Deep Earth – Natural Gas Base in Sichuan and Chongqing.”
Major Discovery of Shale Gas in Sichuan Basin
BEIJING, 24 October, 2022 – Sinopec Southwest Oil & Gas Company of China Petroleum (”Sinopec”) has discovered new shale gas reserves in the Jinshi 103HF exploratory well deployed in the Sichuan Basin.
With a daily natural gas production reaching 258,600 cubic meters and an evaluated resource capacity of 387.8 billion cubic meters, it is a major breakthrough for China’s shale gas exploration, and the first discovery in the Cambrian Qiongzhusi Formation.
The find has significantly expanded shale gas reserves and will further promote shale gas exploration and production in the Sichuan Basin.
The Sichuan Basin is composed of two main formations, the Longmaxi and Qiongzhusi. The former has seen significant exploration and production including China’s first deep shale gas field, Weirong, while Qiongzhusi boasts the most potential for future exploration.
Sinopec Acquires Trillion Cubic Meters of Shale Gas Resources in Southwestern Sichuan, China
Xinchang, China, July 1, 2022 – China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation’s (“Sinopec”) has reported that it has achieved a daily production capacity of 530,000 cubic meters of shale gas on June 30 in its Xinye Well-1 in Qijiang, Chongqing, confirming the 100 billion cubic meters of shale gas reserves in its Xinchang shale gas structure.
As of now, Sinopec has established the shale gas resource belt of “Xinchang South – Dongxi – Dingshan – Lintanchang” (the “Belt”) in the southeastern Sichuan Basin, with overall shale gas resource volume reaching 1.19305 trillion cubic meters, the second trillion-level shale gas reserve of Sinopec following its Fuling shale gas field that will contribute to ensure China’s energy security.
The Xinye Well-1 has a depth of 5,756 meters, and the structure belt has a large favorable area and resources of shale gas, making it a key area for Sinopec’s strategic exploration and production of shale gas. The average well depth of the Belt is over 3,500 meters, among which the deepest drilled Dingye Well-8’s shale gas layer has a depth of 4,614 meters.
The challenges of developing deep deposits include complex ground stress and deep burial depth. Sinopec attaches great importance to exploring deep shale gas and innovated theories and technologies including fracturing for deep shale gas wells as well as achieving domestic production of fracturing equipment, tools and materials. Sinopec has realized 100 percent drilling ration of high-quality shale.
In 2017, Sinopec established a deep shale gas R&D team to pilot researches in Dongxi. After years of comprehensive research and practices, Sinopec has built up the theoretical understanding of deep shale gas geology and successfully unveiled the development and maintaining mechanism of deep shale holes in deep-water shelf-bathyal facies.
In addition, Sinopec also proposed deep shale gas layer sweet spot prediction technology that has achieved high-precision exploration, and developed deep shale gas fracturing engineering technology that effectively addresses problems of burial depth and plasticity, as well as high in-situ stress, to achieve three-dimensional network fracturing technology that can ensure precision cutting, pressurization, and proliferation, as well as balanced expansion and filling.
Next, Sinopec will strengthen the precise evaluation of the Xinchang gas field and elevate the overall evaluation and deployment of the Belt shale gas resources in southeastern Sichuan, thriving to achieve continuous exploration breakthroughs.
First Breakthrough in Cambrian Qiongzhusi Formation
The breakthrough will provide a strong impetus for expanding shale gas exploration and development from the single formation to reach new formations and field types, and contribute to build a national natural gas (shale gas) reserve with 100 billion cubic meters of capacity in the Sichuan and Chongqing region.
Sinopec Southwest has shifted from the traditional method of seeking shale gas in organic rich black shale and established new evaluation standards for the Cambrian shale beds, which led to the discovery of the silty shale gas exploration target layer.
Faced by the challenges of the thin shale layer, large longitudinal stress difference and difficulty in scaled transformation, the company has implemented a new fracturing process and fracturing fluid system to achieve multi-stage fracturing transformation.
In the past decade, Sinopec Southwest has advanced oil and gas exploration and development, with major achievements including the completion of the world’s first ultra-deep, high-sulfur reef gas field, the Yuanba gas field, and the identification of China’s first deep shale gas field, Weirong shale gas field.
The company has implemented new reserves of the scale of over 100 billion cubic meters, including Hexingchang Xujiahe, Yongchuan Longmaxi and Jingyan Qiongzhusi formations.
Its annual natural gas production has increased from 2.82 billion cubic meters in 2012 to 8.001 billion cubic meters in 2021, with a cumulative production of 52.95 billion cubic meters, which makes the subsidiary the largest natural gas producer in the Sinopec Group.
Sinopec Uncovers High-Yielding Shale Gas Reserve
The Qijiang shale gas field is the first shale gas field discovered in medium-deep and deep strata in a complex tectonic zone on the margin of the basin.
Shale gas buried at the depth of over 3,500 meters is defined as deep shale, and the burial depth of Qijiang’s shale formations ranges from 1,900 to 4,500 meters, with the majority being deep shale. With complex overlying strata, the project faced great challenges such as a significantly greater depth and variable ground stress.
To tackle the question of how a shale gas reservoir was formed in the basin margin with such complex surface and underground conditions, Sinopec’s team conducted more than 10,000 lab analysis tests on the core at the depth of 1,320 meters.
This revealed the development and maintenance mechanism of deep shelf shale pores and identified the deep shale can develop vast reservoirs with high porosity, and also revealed the “sweet spots” of projecting the deep shale targets.
The team collected high-precision 3D seismic data of deep shale gas covering an area of 3,662 square kilometers in the complex zone of the southeastern margin of the Sichuan Basin as well as drilling data of existing wells in southern Sichuan.
After repeated discussion and screening, Sinopec has innovated a deep shale gas seismic prediction technology with pressure coefficient and gas content, fracture prediction and horizontal ground stress difference as the core – the equivalent of performing a CT scan of the strata to achieve the breakthrough in predicting the “sweet spots” of deep shale gas.
Sinopec also developed a three-dimensional fracturing technology with “precision cutting, pressurization and expansion, balanced expansion and guaranteed filling” for deep shale, which has improved the daily shale gas production of a single well to break the 300,000, 400,000 and 500,000 cubic meters marks in succession.
Sinopec and QatarEnergy Sign Long-term LNG Deal
The Deal Will See QatarEnergy Supply 4 million tons of LNG to Sinopec Every year, and the Two Sides Carry out Integrated Cooperation on the Expansion Project of the Northern Gas Field
BEIJING, November, 2022 – China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (HKG: 0386, “Sinopec”) and QatarEnergy have signed a long-term Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) purchase and sales agreement for the annual supply of four million tons of LNG to Sinopec. Both parties will work together on Qatar’s North Field Expansion Project (“the Project”).
The 27-year long-term LNG purchase and sale agreement is an important part of the integrated cooperation between the two sides. Sinopec Chairman Ma Yongsheng and Qatari Minister of State for Energy Affairs, President and CEO of QatarEnergy, H.E. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, formally signed the agreement together during an online ceremony.
China and Qatar have enjoyed friendly and close ties while building synergies in the energy sector, Ma said. The healthy level of diplomacy creates a favorable environment for both sides to continuously deepen their cooperation.
“The signing of this agreement aligns with Sinopec’s adherence to green, low-carbon, safe, and sustainable development,” Ma said. “The LNG supply will help meet the demand for natural gas in the Chinese market, but also further optimize China’s energy mix while enhancing the security, stability, and reliability of energy supply.”
“We are delighted to have reached this agreement, which will further strengthen the excellent bilateral relationship between China and Qatar,” said H.E. Mr. Al-Kaabi. “The agreement will help to meet China’s growing demand for clean energy. This cooperation, which spans different fields and will last for 27 years, marks an extraordinary and exciting new chapter of cooperation between the two sides.
Commissioning of the Northern Gas Field Expansion Project is slated for 2026. This agreement is the second long-term LNG purchase and sale agreement signed between Sinopec and QatarEnergy, and the first long-term LNG purchase and sale agreement for the Project.
