China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) announced in late June that its Changqing Oilfield branch has discovered 1 billion tons of shale oil in the Ordos basin in northwestern China. It is the biggest shale oilfield discovered in China.
According to CNPC, the discovery benefited from innovations in oil prospecting technologies, especially drilling skills. The company also took the lead to disclose the formation mechanism of the organic matter contained in the shale in the large lake basins, which set a solid foundation for exploration.
Changqing has made several other major discoveries in the Ordos basin in the last three years. It discovered 359 million tons of shale oil in Qingcheng region, Gansu Province in 2019 and reserves of 143 million tons in 2020. In the first five month of 2021, it discovered 550 million tons of oil.
China Central Television reported that CNPC is promoting a project in the Ordos basin with an annual oil production of 5 million tons. By the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), Changqing’s total shale oil production is expected to increase to 3 million tons.
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