China Accelerates Ultra-Deep Drilling to Boost Domestic Oil Supply

China is ramping up its efforts to extract more oil from ultra-deep formations in order to bolster its domestic oil supply amid ongoing global market instability. PetroChina, China's state-owned oil giant, has extracted over 26 million tons of oil equivalents from reservoirs located six kilometers below the surface in the Hade-Fuman oilfield, situated in the western Xinjiang region.

Dug at depths of 6,000 meters or deeper, these ultra-deep reservoirs are considered more expensive and technically demanding to drill than shallower formations.

Spread across the Hade-Fuman oil field, China has successfully drilled a total of 485 ultra-deep wells, making it the largest desert oilfield in China and a hub for the exploration and production of ultra-deep oil and gas. As the world's largest crude oil importer, China has stepped up its exploration of domestic resources, including ultra-deep formations and shale reservoirs, with the objective of diminishing its reliance on imported crude supplies.

Sinopec, China's largest state-owned oil and gas company, is set to commence operations at a major ultra-deep shale gas play after receiving official government approval for its proven geological reserves of 235.687 billion cubic meters in the Ziyang Dongfeng field, located in Sichuan province. In May, Sinopec announced that the Ministry of Natural Resources of China had validated its shale gas field reserves, marking the establishment of China's first ultra-deep, 100-billion-cubic-meter-level shale gas field.

Despite the technical and geological challenges presented by ultra-deep reservoirs, shale exploration has become an integral component of China's strategy to augment its domestic oil and gas production. This move aims to mitigate the country's significant dependence on imported hydrocarbons, alongside its growing emphasis on alternative energy sources.