China’s Sinopec has discovered another 34.029 billion cubic metres (cm) of gas reserves at the Zhongjiang field in the Sichuan basin. Total gas reserves in the basin now stand at 106.1 billion cm, said the Chinese national oil company.
The discovery will help “establish China’s first 100 billion cubic meter natural gas production base,” Sinopec said in a statement.
The Zhongjiang gas field, located in Zhongjiang County of Deyang City, main gas reservoir has a depth of 2,000-3,000 meters and covers an area of 404.9 square kilometers. The gas field is a typical compact sandstone gas reservoir characterised by low porosity, low permeability and strong concealment, said Sinopec.
Zhongjiang’s annual production has exceeding 1 billion cm for two consecutive years, equivalent to meeting the daily gas consumption of 5.5 million households every year, added Sinopec.
“The Sichuan Basin is rich in ultra-deep natural gas and deep shale gas resources and is a main front for increasing natural gas reserves and production in the future,” said Sinopec.
In recent years, Sinopec said it has “successively solved three major problems in oil and gas exploration and development, including narrow-channel tight gas fields, ultra-deep and high-sulphur gas fields and deep shale gas fields.”
This “has made China one of the few countries in the world to own the complete exploration and development technologies of ultra-deep, high-sulphur organic reef gas fields, taking the lead in ultra-deep natural gas and deep shale gas exploration and development, providing a successful experience for China and abroad.”