Natural gas exploration progress of sinopec during the 13th Five-Year Plan and prospect forecast during the 14th Five-Year Plan

Abstract

Since the 13th Five-Year Plan, Sinopec has been thoroughly carrying out the new energy security strategy of “four revolutions and one cooperation” and the spirit of the important instruction of “powerful promotion of petroleum exploration and development”. Focusing on strategic breakthrough and large-scale reserve increase, the petroleum exploration enhances the theoretical and technological innovation and highlights high-quality exploration battles, so that a series of important petroleum exploration achievements have been gained. In order to accelerate and promote the development of Sinopec's natural gas business, this paper forecasts Sinopec's exploration direction and development potential of natural gas in the future after comprehensively sorting out the achievements and theoretical and technological progresses of natural gas exploration since the 13th Five-Year Plan. And the following research results are obtained. First, since the 13th Five-Year plan, Sinopec has been persisting in the strategic deployment of “balancing marine and continental facies and focusing conventional and unconventional resources”. According to the idea of “extending marine conventional gas, strengthening marine shale gas and optimizing continental tight gas”, Sinopec innovatively develops the hydrocarbon accumulation theory of marine shale gas in southern China, marine carbonate rock in central–western China and tight clastic rock in central–western China. Second, by virtue of researches, a 3D seismic exploration technology with reservoir identification and description as the basis and sweet spot prediction as the core is developed, and several support equipment and tools are integrated, such as deep and ultra-deep drilling and completion, acid fracturing testing, long horizontal well fracturing and high power electric fracturing, and drillable composite bridge plug. Third, a series of natural gas exploration achievements are obtained in three major fields of marine shale, marine carbonate rock and continental tight clastic rock, and new proven natural gas reserves of 1.0068 × 1012 m3 is achieved, which provides Sinopec with high-quality resource guarantee for the fast increase of natural gas production. Fourth, looking forward, there are abundant natural gas resource bases in Sinopec's licenses, and the main development directions of its natural gas exploration are marine carbonate rock in central–western China, tight clastic rock and shale in central–western China, marine deep clastic rock, and deep clastic rock and igneous rock in the mature areas of eastern China. In conclusion, Sinopec's new proven natural gas reserves during the 14th Five-Year Plan is predicted to be 1.16 × 1012–1.36 × 1012 m3, which can provide a solid resources base for the great development of natural gas in China.