Sinopec taps shale oil at mature east China oilfield

CHINA’S Sinopec said on Tuesday (Jul 19) it has tapped a daily flow of 30 tonnes of oil and 1,500 cubic metres of gas at a mature oilfield in east China’s Jiangsu province.

The company said the flows, from exploration well Hua-2-ce in the Jiangsu oilfield, marked a breakthrough in unlocking 1.1 billion tonnes of prospective shale oil resources in the Subei basin.

The firm will accelerate the construction of a pilot shale oil production zone in the area, Sinopec said, without giving further details.

By late 2021 China produced only 35,000 barrels per day (bpd) of shale oil - which is extracted from rock, and is more complex and expensive to produce than conventional crude - mostly in the northern Ordos basin and northwestern Jungar basin.

That equates to less than 1 per cent of its total oil output.

But under a central government call to boost domestic energy supply security, national oil companies are making greater efforts to tap shale deposits. REUTERS