Sinopec announces major shale oil discovery in eastern China

China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) announced the discovery of over 140 million tonnes (MMt) of proven geological reserves of shale oil with technically recoverable reserves of 11.3599 MMt at its Shengli Oilfield's Jiyang shale oil national demonstration zone in East China's Shandong province on March 24, 2025. This is the first shale oil field with proven geological reserves of over 100 MMt that has been certificated by China's Ministry of Natural Resources.

Shengli Oilfield has developed advanced automated drilling equipment that extracts efficiently, and explored horizontal well optimization and fast drilling technology, and dense cutting combined seam network volume fracturing technology. The average drilling cycle has been reduced from 133 days to 29.5 days, and the drilling cycle of 6,000-meter wells has reached 17.7 days, and the single well production capacity has continued to set new records.

"Through 150,000 times of indoor experiments, we developed the theory of shale oil enrichment in continental fault lake basins, reshaping the traditional common understanding that shale oil can only be enriched and mobilized when its maturity is higher than 0.9%," shared Liu Huimin, Vice President and Chief Geologist of Sinopec Shengli Oilfield Branch. "With the support of this theory, the amount of shale oil resources in Jiyang has tripled after re-evaluation."

Shengli Oilfield has tackled challenges of high temperature, pressure, and leakage in shale oil development. By advancing reserve-fracture-pressure theories, developing full-cycle 3D technologies, and building an integrated geological engineering platform, it expanded shale oil development from three to seven layers, addressing extraction efficiency and maximizing resource recovery.

Sun Yongzhuang, Assistant to President of Sinopec Group and Managing Director of Shengli Petroleum Administration Bureau Co., said estimated shale oil resources in Shengli Oilfield have reached 10.5 billion tonnes, equivalent to the conventional oil and gas resources recovered during the past 60 years in China. "After more than 10 years of continuous research and innovative breakthroughs, Shengli Oilfield is expected to add 80 million tonnes of proven reserves this year through the integrated promotion of exploration and development," Mr. Sun said.

Jia Chengzao, an Academician with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and an expert in petroleum and structural geology, said shale oil is a key resource for boosting and stabilizing domestic crude oil production, commenting, "Proven reserves are the core indicator supporting current production. In January, the Ministry of Natural Resources issued specifications for estimating oil reserves in shale formations, marking a new stage of normalization and standardization in China's shale oil resource management."