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A reporter from the Economic Reference News learned on December 9 from the **Energy Bureau that China’s crude oil production is expected to reach 215 million tons by 2025, setting a new historical record； Natural gas production can reach 260 billion cubic meters, an increase of 35% compared to the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period, thereby continuing to solidify its position as the fourth largest natural gas producer in the world. **A responsible official from the Energy Bureau said that during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, investment and workload in oil and gas exploration and development in China remained at historically high levels. Continuous advancements were made in technological innovation, and the oil and gas industry entered a new stage of development characterized by simultaneous increases in volume and efficiency, as well as green development practices. This led to a new development pattern marked by stable oil production, increasing gas production, diversified operators, digitalized production processes, and lower carbon consumption in energy use. On December 9, news from China National Petroleum Corporation indicated that China’s first **-class continental shale oil demonstration zone – the Jimsar **-class continental shale oil demonstration zone in Xinjiang – completed its annual production target of 1.7 million tons of crude oil 22 days ahead of schedule, marking the full completion of the construction tasks for this **-class demonstration zone. On December 3, the annual production volume of the Daqing Gulong continental shale oil **-class demonstration area reached 1 million tons, completing the annual production target for this area 28 days ahead of schedule. Currently, global shale oil resources are distributed across 75 basins in 21 countries, and China ranks third in the world in terms of recoverable shale oil reserves. **Data from the Energy Bureau show that during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, three **-level demonstration areas in Jimsar, Daqing Gulong, and Shengli Jiyang in Xinjiang, along with the Qingcheng shale oil field, will see accelerated development. Shale oil production is expected to exceed 8 million tons by 2025, quadrupling compared to the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period. A significant acceleration in shale oil production is not an isolated case. “During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China will add 10 new oil fields with production capacities of 100 million tons each, as well as 19 large gas fields with reserves of 100 billion cubic meters each. A total of 7 billion tons of oil and over 7 trillion cubic meters of natural gas have been added to the proven geological reserves, representing increases of approximately 43% and 40% respectively compared to the 13th Five-Year Plan period. This has led to a new peak in oil and gas reserves since the founding of the country, with the newly proven technically recoverable reserves consistently exceeding the amount extracted, thus laying a solid resource foundation for long-term production. Oil and gas exploration has yielded fruitful results, with production increasing steadily. “During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China added a total of 105 million tons of new crude oil production capacity, bringing its crude oil output back above 200 million tons while maintaining stable and efficient production levels. Among them, offshore crude oil has become an important \"growth driver,\" accounting for over 60% of the country’s new oil production for five consecutive years. Natural gas production has also seen growth in the order of 10 billion cubic meters for nine consecutive years. It is worth noting that during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China made breakthroughs in areas such as the integration of oil and gas with new energy sources, carbon reduction for oil extraction, and methane emission control, thereby accelerating the transition of the upstream oil and gas sector from traditional energy development to a cleaner, lower-carbon model.