Sinopec discovers shale oil in Shandong province

• Over 140 million tonnes of proven geological reserves of shale oil were discovered with technically recoverable reserves of 11.4 million tonnes, Sinopec said.
• This is the first shale oil field certificated by China's Ministry of Natural Resources to have proven geological reserves of over 100 million tonnes. 

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) discovered hydrocarbons at its Shengli Oilfield's Jiyang shale oil national demonstration zone in East China's Shandong province.

Over 140 million tonnes of proven geological reserves of shale oil were discovered with technically recoverable reserves of 11.3599 million tonnes. This is the first shale oil field with proven geological reserves of over 100 million tonnes that has been certificated by China's Ministry of Natural Resources.

Shengli Oilfield has developed advanced automated drilling equipment for fast drilling and explored horizontal well optimization. The average drilling cycle has been reduced to 29.5 days from 133 days, and the drilling cycle of 6,000-m wells has reached 17.7 days, according to the company. 

By using advancing reserve-fracture-pressure theories, developing full-cycle 3D technologies, and building an integrated geological engineering platform, Sinopec expanded shale oil development from three to seven layers to increase extraction efficiency and maximize resource recovery, it said.

In January 2021, Sinopec tested a high-yield shale oil and gas well at Fuling shale gas field in Chongqing, with shale oil production surpassing 30,000 tonnes for the first time in 2024.

By December 2021, Sinopec identified a favorable area of 420 sq km in the Qintong Depression of Northern Jiangsu basin, with shale oil resources totaling 350 million tonnes. In July 2022, a Northern Jiangsu basin well yielded more than 30 tonnes of oil and 1,500 cu m of natural gas daily, activating 1.1 billion tonnes of shale oil resources.

Sinopec said its 2024 shale oil production reached 705,000 tonnes, up 308,000 tonnes year-over-year.