Sinopec, China’s largest oil refiner, announced that a new well in the Sichuan Basin has yielded significant shale oil and gas production, with daily outputs of 38.64 cubic meters of oil and 10,000 cubic meters of gas.
This breakthrough confirms the discovery of a new shale oil field with estimated reserves exceeding 100 million tons, marking a substantial expansion of China’s unconventional oil and gas resources, as reported by Xinhua News Agency.
Shale oil primarily consists of liquid hydrocarbons trapped within shale formations, which can be extracted for refining. Shale oil reservoirs are commonly found in organic-rich shale layers interbedded with thin carbonate, sandstone, and mudstone strata. This discovery is pivotal for sustaining China’s long-term crude oil stability.
The Qiluye-1 well, located in Qijiang District, Chongqing, was drilled into shale formations over 2,000 meters deep, with a lateral section exceeding 2 km and exposure to nearly 40 meters of oil-bearing shale.
According to CCTV, the discovery reveals a high-quality shale formation spanning over 1,000 square kilometers in the region, signaling promising exploration and development prospects. Representatives from Sinopec’s exploration division noted that the shale oil at Qiluye-1 is relatively shallow, high-grade, and highly profitable.
The Sichuan Basin findings underscore China’s growing self-sufficiency and technical expertise in shale extraction. With abundant untapped resources and advanced drilling capabilities, China is poised to secure a stable energy supply while advancing clean energy and diversification goals.
Previously, the Qijiang shale gas field, discovered in 2022, boasts proven reserves of hundreds of billions of cubic meters of shale gas. The high yields of both shale oil and gas from Qiluye-1 further expand the region’s unconventional resource portfolio.
CCTV reports that China’s shale oil production reached 705,000 tons in 2024, up by 308,000 tons from the previous year. By 2025, geological reserves are projected to surpass 200 million tons of shale oil and 12.35 billion cubic meters of gas.
Despite China’s vast shale oil and gas reserves, extraction remains challenging, with shale oil currently accounting for just 1% of domestic oil production.
China holds significant shale resource potential, particularly in natural gas, but extraction is complicated by complex, region-specific geology distinct from that of the U.S.
Nevertheless, shale exploration remains critical to China’s strategy to boost domestic oil and gas output, thereby reducing reliance on imported fuels.
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