Changqing Oilfield's daily shale oil output surpasses 10,000 tonnes

Changqing Oilfield, China's largest oil-and-gas field, on Wednesday announced that its daily shale oil output had totaled 10,006 tonnes -- a milestone in China's shale oil development.

Located in the Ordos Basin, the shale oil resources developed by Changqing Oilfield are marked by thin oil layers and high heterogeneity. As a globally rare low-pressure shale oilfield, it poses major challenges for seismic exploration and reservoir fracturing, making the economic development particularly difficult.

Since 2018, Changqing Oilfield has been ramping up its shale oil production capacity, supported by Chinese sci-tech projects. It has launched a large-scale underground hydraulic fracturing experimental site, advancing core technologies to increase its single-well output from 1.5 tonnes to 18 tonnes.

It has significantly reduced its required workforce for 1 million tonnes of production from over 2,000 workers to just 200.

Now a major shale oil production hub in China, Changqing Oilfield accounted for 52.2 percent of the country's total shale oil output in 2024. Its annual output is projected to reach 3.5 million tonnes in 2025. ■