The Ministry of Land and Resources recently announced that China will build a shale gas exploration and development base in the Yangtze Economic Belt, covering the entire Yangtze River Basin including Sichuan, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, and Anhui. Relevant data show that the recoverable shale gas resource potential in the Yangtze Economic Belt region is 14.58 trillion cubic meters, accounting for 58% of the national total.
Highlights
The Ministry of Land and Resources recently announced that China will build a shale gas exploration and development base in the Yangtze Economic Belt, covering the entire Yangtze River Basin including Sichuan, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, and Anhui. Relevant data show that the recoverable shale gas resource potential in the Yangtze Economic Belt region is 14.58 trillion cubic meters, accounting for 58% of the national total.
Sichuan's shale gas resources account for 20.5% of the national total, and its recoverable shale gas resources account for 17.7% of the national total, both ranking first in the country. Sichuan is located in the upper reaches of the Yangtze Economic Belt shale gas exploration and development base. How will it take the lead?
Clarifying the Resource Base: Surveying Regional "Hotspots" to Identify New Targets
This year, our province launched a shale gas resource survey and evaluation, which is the first comprehensive assessment of shale gas conditions across the province, including all potentially gas-producing areas such as the Sichuan Basin, Xichang Basin, and Yanyuan Basin.
Zhai Gangyi, deputy director of the Oil and Gas Resources Survey Center of the China Geological Survey, introduced that China's shale gas has formed four major shale gas production areas: Fuling, Changning, Weiyuan, and Yanchang, two of which are located in Sichuan. Sichuan has proven shale gas reserves of nearly 260 billion cubic meters. By the end of this year, PetroChina's shale gas production in Sichuan is expected to reach 3 billion cubic meters, accounting for 30% of the national total, second only to Chongqing.
The purpose of this comprehensive survey and evaluation is to further verify reserves, "striving to propose 2-3 target areas by 2019." Hu Shaoyong, deputy director of the Sichuan Provincial Land Survey and Planning Research Institute, believes that the survey and evaluation will provide a basis for shale gas exploration and development.
Building Pilot Zones to Unleash Regional Potential, Targeting 10 Billion Cubic Meters
In addition to the comprehensive survey, efforts will be focused on key areas. As early as May last year, our province launched the construction of the Southern Sichuan Shale Gas Exploration and Development Pilot Zone. At the launch meeting, Wang Min, Vice Minister of Land and Resources, stated that the Southern Sichuan Shale Gas Exploration and Development Pilot Zone is one of the areas with the richest shale gas resources and the greatest development potential in China.
The pilot zone currently has 18 oil and gas exploration rights, including 14 for oil, natural gas, and shale gas. Liu Xuning, deputy director of the Shale Gas Exploration and Development Department of PetroChina Southwest Oil and Gas Field Company, introduced that last year, the Changning-Weiyuan National Shale Gas Demonstration Zone produced over 2.3 billion cubic meters of shale gas, with a daily gas production of 7 million cubic meters.
Recently, the Ministry of Land and Resources, the Sichuan Provincial Government, China National Petroleum Corporation, and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation held a "four-party meeting" in Chengdu to discuss the implementation plan for the Southern Sichuan Shale Gas Exploration and Development Pilot Zone. The Southern Sichuan Shale Gas Exploration and Development Pilot Zone mainly involves 39 counties (cities, districts) in 7 cities including Neijiang, Zigong, Yibin, Luzhou, Leshan, Ziyang, and Meishan, covering an area of approximately 46,100 square kilometers. The plan is to have cumulative proven shale gas geological reserves of 300-500 billion cubic meters in Southern Sichuan by 2020, with an annual production of 10 billion cubic meters, and the shale gas exploration and development in the pilot zone reaching a domestic leading level.
Development and Utilization: Seeking Technological Breakthroughs and Extending the Industrial Chain
"Sichuan's technology and experience in shale gas development will surely 'pave the way' for shale gas extraction across the country," said Wang Xingzhi, deputy dean of the School of Resources and Environment at Southwest Petroleum University. In the Yangtze Economic Belt shale gas base, Sichuan's key core technology level, equipment manufacturing, and oilfield service capabilities in shale gas exploration and development all rank among the top in the country.
Shale gas development faces a series of world-class challenges such as karst caves, underground rivers, shallow gas, and lost circulation. Imported international technologies have proven "unsuitable," and there is no ready-made domestic technical experience to draw upon.
As a pioneer, Sichuan has explored a set of methods for large-scale and cost-effective shale gas development, including comprehensive geological evaluation technology for shale gas, horizontal well volume fracturing technology, and factory-style operation technology for horizontal well groups. The five newly developed wells in the Weiyuan area have an average daily test production per well 1.68 times higher than previous wells.
Next, the Southern Sichuan Shale Gas Pilot Zone will intensify comprehensive utilization and extend the shale gas industrial chain. Based on shale gas industry demonstration parks, it will cultivate an industrial chain covering upstream exploration and development, midstream transportation and storage, and downstream comprehensive utilization. "Leveraging the advantages of the Yangtze River Golden Waterway, relevant enterprises will be encouraged to prioritize the layout and development of oil and gas equipment manufacturing, services, environmental protection, and other industries within the pilot zone," said Jia Zhiqiang, director of the Geological Exploration Division of the Provincial Department of Land and Resources.