Thread Content
The exploration and development of the Yan’an gas field has changed the development pattern of the Ordos Basin, which previously featured oil in the south and gas in the north. “The exploration and efficient development of the giant tight gas field in Yan’an represent a significant achievement for China’s oil and gas industry. They provide crucial support for the Ordos Basin to become a major source of oil and gas resources capable of producing hundreds of millions of tons per year, and they also contribute to the revitalization of the old revolutionary areas in northern Shaanxi. ”Zhao Wenzhi, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said. Over a month ago, the scientific and technological achievement of Yan’an Petroleum titled \"Exploration and Efficient Development of the Giant Tight Gas Field with Trillion Cubic Meters of Reserves\" passed the technical appraisal. Eleven academicians and experts in China unanimously agreed that the overall technical level of this achievement is at the international forefront. The Ordos Basin is China’s largest oil and gas production base, with an oil and gas equivalent of over 97 million tons in 2024. However, throughout the history of oil and gas exploration and development in this basin, a pattern of \"oil in the south and gas in the north\" has long prevailed. The so-called \"natural gas in the south and oil in the north\" refers to the abundant natural gas resources stored in the northern part of the basin; large gas fields such as Jingbian, Sulihe, Yulin, and Diniudi have been discovered there, making it one of China’s main natural gas production areas. In the southern part of the Ordos Basin, oil resources are abundant, but it is recognized by the industry as a \"gas-poor area\". The Yan’an gas field is located in the southern part of the Ordos Basin. Exploring and developing large-scale gas fields in the recognized \"gas-poor areas\" is equivalent to finding a new path in the \"unexplored territory\" of geological theoretical understanding and engineering technologies – how difficult is that? 18 years ago, Wang Xiangzeng, the chief scientist and chief geologist at Yanchang Petroleum, a company under Shaanxi Province, took on this task and led his team in carrying out joint research efforts with institutions such as the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Southwest Petroleum University, Xi’an Petroleum University, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), and Northwest University. Over 18 years, the research team overcame one technical challenge after another, developed new theoretical frameworks and extraction technologies, and determined that the Yan’an gas field holds reserves of 1.3 trillion cubic meters – ranking it 4th in the country in terms of reserve volume. The first phase of this facility has an annual production capacity of 12.8 billion cubic meters. In 2024, the natural gas production from the first-phase expansion project of the Yan’an gas field increased to 10.45 billion cubic meters, ranking fourth in the country in terms of annual output. This made it part of the group of gas fields with an annual production of over 10 billion cubic meters, with the annual increase representing approximately 80% of Shaanxi Province’s total increase in gas production. Currently, the new production capacity project for the Yan’an gas field is still being accelerated. Once again, it is surprising that carbon dioxide can be turned into a useful resource, playing a significant role in the exploitation of the Yan’an gas field. “Carbon dioxide captured from coal chemical projects is used to fracture the rock and create fractures, after which a water-based fracturing fluid carrying sand is used to expand and stabilize these fractures; the production increase achieved in this way is more than twice that of conventional hydraulic fracturing. ”As explained by Sun Xiao, the head of the Doctoral Innovation Studio for CO2 fracturing technology at Yanchang Petroleum. In simple terms, carbon dioxide is used to fracture the underlying layer and create cracks, water is then used along with sand to keep those cracks open, and natural gas is extracted from those cracks. It is estimated that the first-phase production project of the Yan’an atmospheric reservoir has so far sequestered over 80,000 tons of carbon dioxide, an amount equivalent to the carbon absorbed each year through photosynthesis by 220 hectares of broad-leaved forests. Article source: Yanchang Petroleum Group official website, March 28, 2025.