A major breakthrough in 50 years! A "huge field" was discovered in Henan, with crude oil resources exceeding 100 million tons!

Recently, important news came from the 2024 National Geological Survey Work Conference. The China Geological Survey of the Ministry of Natural Resources has drilled a high-yield industrial oil flow at Hangu Pass in Lingbao, located in the central part of the Sanmenxia Basin. After on-site testing and evaluation, it was determined that the oil well produces 17.13 tons of crude oil per day. The estimated crude oil resources will reach 107 million tons, which has the resource foundation for building a new oil and gas resource succession base.

The report said that the discovery achieved a major breakthrough in oil and gas surveys in the area over the past 50 years.

Sanmenxia City is located in the westernmost part of Henan Province, bordering Henan, Shanxi and Shaanxi Provinces. It is known as "Five Mountains, Four Ridges and One River", and is extremely rich in mineral resources. According to the overall deployment of the new round of strategic actions for mineral exploration breakthroughs, the China Geological Survey of the Ministry of Natural Resources carried out an evaluation of oil and gas resource selection areas around small and medium-sized basins across the country, and selected the Sanmenxia Basin in South North China (i.e. Sanmenxia City) as a key breakthrough area, and initially delineated four oil and gas prospecting areas. The drilling in the central tectonic belt prospecting area this time is only the predicted geological resources of the Hanguguan structure, and the deployment and implementation of the drilling verification of the Yuxiadi 1 well.

According to Lu Zengfeng, chief engineer of Lingbao Natural Resources and Planning Bureau, the drilling and monitoring results show that the well is a self-flowing, high-yield, light oil well. The drilling test selected the 10-meter oil layer of the 3rd layer of Yuxiadi 1 well for formation testing. It self-flowed 17.13 tons of crude oil in 24 hours, which did not contain water and was a light oil. The discovery of industrial oil flow in the drilling well is the first step in the formation of energy exploitation, and it also proves that the oil and gas resources here have exploitation value and far-reaching impact.

Oil and gas resources are strategic minerals for the country. my country imports more than 70% of its oil, and its external dependence is relatively high. In order to ease the contradiction between supply and demand, my country has continuously accelerated the exploration of oil and gas resources in recent years. The 2023 Sanmenxia Basin and Ordos Southern Margin Basin Group Oil and Gas Survey and Evaluation Project was approved by the Lingbao Municipal Government and the Oil and Gas Resources Survey Center of the China Geological Survey. It is one of the main projects of the country's new round of strategic action for mineral exploration breakthroughs and a public welfare project funded by the central government. The project focuses on the Hangu Pass area of ​​Lingbao City, covering the Sanmenxia Basin and the Ordos peripheral fault basin area. The construction period is 3 years, and the total investment is expected to be more than 69 million yuan. In 2023, 9 million yuan will be invested to implement drilling projects in the Hangu Pass area, and in 2024, corresponding work will be carried out based on the exploration results.

In addition, my country has a large number of small and medium-sized basins, a large area of ​​exploration blanks, and great potential for oil and gas resources, which is one of the important areas for the next step of oil and gas resource succession base construction. The research team of the China Geological Survey has innovatively proposed a new understanding of oil and gas accumulation in the Sanmenxia Basin, and has effectively verified it through drilling, which has effectively promoted the construction of oil and gas resource succession bases in the Central Plains region, and has important demonstration and reference significance for oil and gas exploration in small and medium-sized basins in my country.

On January 9, data released by the National Energy Administration showed that in 2023, domestic oil and gas production equivalent exceeded 390 million tons, maintaining a rapid growth momentum of tens of millions of tons for seven consecutive years, with an average annual increase of 11.7 million tons of oil equivalent, forming a new peak period of production growth.

Crude oil production reached 208 million tons, an increase of more than 3 million tons year-on-year, and a substantial increase of nearly 19 million tons compared with 2018. The basic foundation of long-term stable production of 200 million tons of domestic crude oil has been further consolidated. The substantial increase in offshore crude oil production has become a key increment, with production exceeding 62 million tons, accounting for more than 60% of the country's oil production increase for four consecutive years. Shale oil exploration and development has been steadily advancing. The construction of three national demonstration areas in Jimusar, Daqing Gulong, and Shengli Jiyang in Xinjiang and the Qingcheng shale oil field has been accelerated. The multi-well type test in the Qintong Depression in northern Jiangsu has achieved commercial breakthroughs, and shale oil production has exceeded 4 million tons, setting a new record. Onshore deep-ultra-deep exploration and development has continued to make major discoveries, and multiple deep large oil fields have been efficiently built, with a production of 11.8 million tons in 2023. my country has become the global leader in the onshore ultra-deep oil and gas field with a depth of 6,000 meters or more.

Natural gas production reached 230 billion cubic meters, maintaining a 10 billion cubic meter increase for seven consecutive years. The three major basins of Sichuan, Ordos and Tarim are the main areas for increased production, accounting for 70% of the total increase in natural gas production in the country since 2018.

Planning and production

Source: CCTV.com, CCTV News, Sanmenxia Daily, National Energy Administration website, etc.

Editor: Zhong Yanping