Sinopec makes major natural gas discovery in China’s Sichuan basin

World Oil Staff August 24, 2023

(WO) – China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation ("Sinopec") has received official certification for the 30.55 Bcm proven geological reserve of natural gas discovered in phase-I of its Bazhong gas field, a significant breakthrough of Sinopec's Project Deep Earth-Sichuan and Chongqing natural gas base that further reveals favorable potential of the tight sandstone in northeast Sichuan, China.

natural gas field
Courtesy of Sinopec

The Bazhong natural gas field is the third Xujiahe Formation tight sandstone gas field discovered by Sinopec in the region. As of now, Sinopec has submitted a total of 154,747 MMcm of proven geological reserves of tight sandstone gas in the region.

The sandstone gas reserve with a burial depth of over 4,500 m is defined as an ultra-deep, tight sandstone gas reservoir. The burial depth of the Bazhong natural gas field ranges from 4,550 to 5,225 m, which is a challenge for exploration and development.

Sinopec has innovated three types of high-quality reservoir and permeability development models to clarify natural gas enrichment and high-yield production models, established reservoir prediction technique sequences, and implemented enriched high-yield zones.

Next, Sinopec will continue to tackle the geological evaluation and engineering process of the tight sandstone shale gas reserves in the Sichuan basin to expand the scale of reserves in the Bazhong region.

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