Natural gas exploration and development in Changqing Oilfield and its prospect in the 13th Five-Year Plan

PetroChina Changqing Oilfield Company (hereinafter referred to as Changqing Oilfield) built the largest oil and gas production base of China in the Ordos Basin in 2013, achieving the yearly natural gas production of 375 × 108 m3 in 2015. For the further sustainable and stable production and quality and benefit improvement, such great achievements made in the 12th Five-Year Plan were first summarized, and the relevant favorable conditions for natural gas development were also analyzed as follows: abundant natural gas resources; increasingly mature E&P technologies; continuously improved delicacy management; and a surging demand for natural gas. Then, challenges to natural gas development were also discussed, including obvious deterioration of natural gas resources; diminished capacity of stable production of produced gasfields; increasing number of low-yield wells; and prominent supply-demand contradiction in present natural gas market. Finally, its prospect in the 13th Five-Year Plan was studied: to carry out natural gas exploration with focus on Upper Paleozoic tight gas, Lower Paleozoic carbonate rocks, and new areas and new domains, so as to achieve rapid growth of natural gas reserves and orderly replacement in exploration domains; to make rational development planning with focus on the stable production of mature gasfields; and to enhance tight gas recovery and strengthen capacity building in new areas, so as to achieve a steady rise of annual gas production in the giant gas province. It is expected that by the end of 13th Five-Year Plan period, Changqing Oilfield will achieve its annual gas production of up to 400 × 108 m3.