Major News: Over 180 million tons of new shale oil reserves have been discovered in eastern China!
2026-03-04
On March 3, China Petrochemical Corporation announced that, following review and verification by the Oil and Gas Reserves Review Office of the Ministry of Natural Resources of China, Sinopec’s Xinxing and Qintong oilfields are both typical continental‑type rift basin shale oilfields, with newly proven geological reserves totaling 180.2749 million tonnes. , This marks the emergence of two shale oilfields in the eastern China’s continental rift basins.
This is also in accordance with the newly promulgated “Norm for Estimating Petroleum Reserves in Shale Formations.” China’s first batch of confirmed shale oil geological reserves.
The emerging oilfield is located in the Jiyang Sag of the Bohai Bay Basin, while the Qintong Oilfield lies in the Subei Basin. The review concluded that, Both oilfields’ shale formations are characterized by high pressure and excellent fracturability, with high per-well production rates, favorable pilot‑test performance, and prolonged stable‑production periods. 。 The emerging oilfield is buried at depths of 2,900 to 4,000 meters, with a high content of brittle minerals, giving its reservoirs strong development potential. The Qintong Oilfield lies at depths of 3,430 to 4,560 meters and exhibits promising development prospects.
The review concluded that the shale oil in both oilfields is… It is hosted in organic‑rich shales of the deep‑water lacustrine facies within Paleogene fault‑bounded lake basins, characterized by substantial thickness, extensive areal extent, stable distribution, and considerable burial depth. The shales exhibit well‑developed laminations and contain virtually no interbeds of sandstone or carbonate rocks. Its developmental and distributional characteristics differ from those of North American marine sedimentary basins, exhibiting features such as a relatively young age, low maturity, complex faulting, distinctive mineralogical composition, and high temperature–high pressure conditions. Consequently, exploration and development pose challenges of world‑class magnitude, with no prior experience to draw upon.
Li Jinggong, head of the oil and gas reserves review expert group at the Ministry of Natural Resources, stated that this review marks the first time China’s self‑developed industry standard for estimating petroleum reserves in shale formations has been applied, along with… Data on the Chinese‑style continental shale oil system It has been determined that China’s first batch of continental rift‑basin shale oil fields has provided valuable experience for the ongoing refinement and improvement of shale‑oil evaluation technical standards, as well as for the next phase of shale‑oil reserve appraisal.
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