Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily(Reporter Yu Jiangyan) news: In 2024, Xinjiang accelerated the exploration and development of oil and gas, achieving an oil and gas production equivalent of nearly 66.64 million tons—securing its position as the top producer in China for four consecutive years. This accomplishment not only further consolidates Xinjiang's role as a strategic base for national energy resources but also highlights its critical significance in China's modernization drive.

The three major basins of Xinjiang, the Junggar basin, Tarim basin, and Turpan-Hami basins, are rich in oil and gas resources. As the China's leading producer of oil and gas, Xinjiang has made many efforts to boost reserves and increase production.

Exploring deeper oilfields

Xinjiang, spanning two of the world's major tectonic mineral belts—Central Asia and Tethys—boasts a natural endowment of abundant oil and gas resources.

In 1955, the first industrial flow of oil gushed from Karamay No. 1 Well, marking the birth of the first major oilfield in the People’s Republic of China and the beginning of Xinjiang's oil industry.

Over the past 70 years, Xinjiang's oil and gas exploration has gradually moved from shallow to deep and ultra-deep layers. Since the 14th Five-Year Plan, technological breakthroughs in ultra-deep oil and gas exploration in the Tarim Basin and Northwest Oilfield have enabled deeper exploration.

The Fuman Oilfield, with oil and gas deposits buried between 7,500 and 10,000 meters, has transformed from a minor production area a decade ago to a key strategic reserve area in the Tarim Basin. In 2021, a new reserve area with a scale of 1 billion tons was discovered in Fuman area of the Tarim Basin. The same year, it was listed as one of the "Top 10 mega-projects of China's central SOEs in 2021." In 2022, the Fuman Oilfield's annual oil and gas production equivalent exceeded 3 million tons, making it the fastest-growing deep-field oilfield in China.

Adjacent to the Fuman Oilfield, the Shunbei Oil and Gas Field is the main battleground for ultra-deep exploration by Sinopec. In August 2022, Sinopec named the Shunbei Oil and Gas Field as the "Deep Earth Project—Shunbei Oil and Gas Field Base," China's first oil and gas project named after "deep earth engineering." Shendi (Deep Earth) No.1 Shunbei Oil and Gas Field Base has become a symbol of deep-field exploration.

Internationally, wells deeper than 6,000 meters are generally classified as ultra-deep wells. In the Tarim Basin, oil and gas deposits are typically buried deeper than 6,000 meters, accounting for 83 percent and 63 percent of China's total oil and gas reserves in ultra-deep layers, respectively.

As a frontier for ultra-deep oil and gas exploration in China, the Tarim Basin has become a leader in this field.

Since the 14th Five-Year Plan, core technologies for ultra-deep drilling in the Tarim Basin have been continuously improved, with drilling depths and completion speeds setting new records.

In March 2024, the Tarim Basin drilled the first 10,000-meter vertical well in Asia, marking China's advanced level in deep-earth oil and gas drilling capabilities and supporting technologies. By the end of 2024, the Tarim Oilfield had drilled 182 wells deeper than 8,000 meters.

Data shows that in 2024, the Tarim Oilfield produced 20.47 million tons of oil and gas equivalent from depths exceeding 6,000 meters, with ultra-deep production accounting for over 60 percent of its total output.

"Ultra-deep layers have become the main battleground for China's oil and gas reserve increases and production growth. Advancing deeper into the earth is a major strategic task to ensure national energy security and a crucial strategic choice to maintain energy self-sufficiency," said Sun Jinsheng, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Now, not only has the Tarim Basin achieved significant breakthroughs in ultra-deep exploration, but the Junggar Basin is also making rapid progress. In November 2024, the Well Qingbei 1 drilled by Xinjiang Oilfield to a depth of 9,056 meters, making it the deepest well in the Junggar Basin.

On China's energy map, the exploration and development of ultra-deep oil and gas resources in Xinjiang have become a significant growth pole, continuously setting new milestones in drilling depths.

Advancing into unconventional oil and gas reservoirs

Innovation in technology is not only driving Xinjiang's oil industry to delve deeper into the Earth's crust but also propelling the exploration and development of unconventional oil and gas reservoirs in the region.

The world's oil and gas resources are diverse and widely distributed. Scientists use a "pyramid" model to describe this distribution. At the top of the pyramid are conventional oil and gas reservoirs, characterized by high-quality hydrocarbons, good permeability, high porosity, and strong connectivity, making them easily accessible with existing technologies. In contrast, unconventional oil and gas reservoirs are the ones found at the lower part of the pyramid. These reservoirs are marked by poor hydrocarbon quality, low fluid mobility, low porosity, and lack of natural production capacity. They are either difficult to extract or economically valueless with current technologies.

Unconventional oil and gas resources mainly include tight oil (shale oil), tight sandstone gas (tight carbonate gas), shale gas, coalbed methane, and oil sands oil.

During the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, two major oil fields with reserves of over one billion tons each were discovered in the Junggar Basin: the Jimsar Shale Oil Demonstration Zone and the Mahu Conglomerate Oilfield.

In 2020, the Jimsar National Shale Oil Demonstration Zone was established, marking the official start of shale oil development.

To reduce development costs, the Jiqing Oilfield Operation Area and the Zhundong Oil Production Management Zone of the Turpan-Hami Oilfield have continuously upgraded their technologies. By accelerating drilling, improving fracturing efficiency, and rapidly commissioning new wells, they have achieved cost reduction and increased efficiency in shale oil development.

Wu Chengmei, a senior engineer at the Jiqing Oilfield Operation Area of Xinjiang Oilfield Company said that in July 2024, Well Ji 81-32, with a vertical section depth of 3,900 meters and a horizontal section length of 1,500 meters, was completed in just 16.8 days.

In 2024, the annual production of Jimsar shale oil exceeded one million tons, making it the first national shale oil demonstration zone in China with an annual output of over one million tons.

Tang Yong, an expert at the Huairou National Laboratory Xinjiang Base, noted that the large-scale and efficient development of Xinjiang's terrestrial shale oil has achieved a major breakthrough, setting an example for China's terrestrial shale oil revolution.

The Mahu Oilfield is the world's largest tight conglomerate oil reservoir. The cycloalkane-based crude oil produced here is a rare strategic resource. It is used as a raw material to produce high-density aviation kerosene and ultra-low-temperature lubricating oils, which are primarily utilized in aerospace and other high-tech fields.

Compared to other reservoirs, the Mahu tight conglomerate oil reservoir is characterized by low porosity. Its unique sedimentary features, reservoir structure, and accumulation process make crude oil extraction extremely challenging. Through intensified technological research and continuous breakthroughs in technical difficulties, Xinjiang Oilfield is turning the Mahu Oilfield into a significant strategic resource substitution area.

Joint efforts for oil and gas development

In recent years, Xinjiang has accelerated the reform of exploration and development systems, optimized the business environment, and activated the oil and gas exploration market. The region has sped up the auction of mineral rights, attracting investments from private enterprises and local state-owned enterprises. Since the reform of oil and gas exploration and development in Xinjiang, 24 new companies have entered the market, with over 90 percent being private enterprises, in addition to China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Sinopec.

For example, Aksu Zhongman Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Co., Ltd., which was established in Wensu County, Xinjiang Aksu Prefecture in 2018, has achieved rapid development by discovering oil and gas resources within one year, proving reserves within two years, and starting production within three years. In 2024, the company's annual oil and gas production reached 700,200 tons of oil equivalent.

The region is also accelerating the construction of coalbed methane projects in the Junggar and Kubai areas. In 2023, the Xinjiang Yanxin Coalbed Methane Investment and Development (Group) Co., Ltd. was established to invigorate the coalbed methane development market. In 2024, Xinjiang's coalbed methane production exceeded 121 million cubic meters, a year-on-year increase of 46 percent.

To better integrate resource development with local economic growth, Karamay City has launched a 500,000-ton oil sand ore production project, becoming the first in the region to achieve large-scale development and utilization of oil sand ore. In line with the requirements of the Party Committee and the government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Karamay City will further increase production capacity and development efforts to build a million-ton-level local oil and gas group.

In 2024, the Geological Bureau of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region deployed Well Xinchaidi 1 in the Chaiwopu depression, discovering multiple thick oil and gas layers and achieving a new breakthrough in oil and gas exploration in the down-dip area of the Bogda thrust belt. It is predicted that the natural gas geological resource potential in this area could reach 100 billion cubic meters, with the potential to form a large oil and gas field.

The regional government work report proposed establishing a cooperative mechanism for oil and gas exploration and development between central and local governments, as well as between Production and Construction Corps and local authorities. Efforts will be intensified to explore and develop oil and gas in the Junggar, Tarim, and Turpan-Hami basins to increase reserves and production.

In 2024, the New Tower Oil & Gas Joint Exploration Company, jointly established by Yanxin Coalbed Methane Group and Tarim Oilfield, began operations, deploying Futan 1 well in Kargilik.

The development of the oil and gas production and processing industry cluster is also being strengthened. CNPC (China National Petroleum Corporation) and Yaxin Coalbed Methane Group have jointly established Xinjiang CNPC Xinhai Natural Gas Pipeline Co., Ltd., which will coordinate the construction of a unified natural gas pipeline network across Xinjiang. The company aims to complete the expansion of natural gas pipelines in northern and southern Xinjiang as soon as possible to benefit the region sooner.

Cooperation extends not only between central and local enterprises but also among different central enterprises. In the Tarim Basin, Tarim Oilfield and Northwest Oilfield Development have adjacent blocks and have formed a cooperative relationship. By sharing data and experience, Northwest Oilfield identified greater potential in the Ruoqiang West area and prioritized the implementation of the "Tarim Basin Ruoqiang West 3D Seismic Exploration Data Acquisition Project." This project, the first new area geophysical project for Northwest Oilfield in 2025, was completed on February 11, 2025.

"Continuous technological innovation is driving the growth of Xinjiang's oil and gas production and processing industry cluster," said Zhao Xionghu, a professor at the School of Petroleum Engineering of China University of Petroleum-Beijing at Karamay. Innovative cooperation models, with a broad vision and strategic perspective, will surely lead to significant development in Xinjiang's oil and gas industry.

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