Beijing seems to want to tighten its mouth when it comes to oil and gas exploration. And announces the creation of a consortium intended to specifically organize the search for oil and gas reserves located at very great depths.
This consortium will bring together about ten energy and scientific groups in the country. Starting with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Sinopec, the two main oil and gas producers in the country. But they also include China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, the steel group Baowu, the equipment manufacturer Sinomach, Dongfang Electric Group and the mining company Minmetals.
A priority for Xi Jinping
According to the CNPC, which made this creation official in a press release, the aim of this consortium is to bring together the skills of the various companies in order to set up “an industrial chain ranging from ultra-deep oil and gas exploration to engineering and development.” More specifically, the consortium aims to conduct explorations by drilling very deep wells up to 10,000 m below the earth’s surface, particularly in the northwest of China, in the Tarim Basin. A region where 9 billion tonnes of oil are found, nestled between 6,000 and 8,000 m, which represents between 60 and 80% of the country’s ultra-deep energy resources.
This consortium therefore also aims to develop the exploration and exploitation of gas and shale oil, a field in which CNPC and Sinopec have launched for several years under the leadership of Xi Jinping. Because as is often the case in China, it is the Chinese president who is in charge to guide the country’s industry, which, although in the Top 10 producers, remains the world’s leading importer of gas and oil.
This is why the exploration of the planet at great depths is one of the strategic development axes defined in 2021 by Xi Jinping. At the time, he called on the country’s engineers to carry out work that could help identify the mineral and energy resources needed by the country. And had placed this mining exploration at the same level of importance as space exploration or that of the seabed.
A well that reached 10,000 m deep
In recent years, the efforts made by Chinese groups to dig deeper and deeper for oil and gas have started to pay off. And according to some estimates, they would have given a little extra to Chinese production. However, the main Chinese achievement in this area is recent and has not yet enabled Beijing to have any impact.
Beijing began drilling a well in Xinjiang just a year ago, called “Shenditake 1”, which is planned to go down to a depth of 11,100 m. This well, which is intended to help scientific research as well as oil and gas research, reached the symbolic threshold of 10,000 m last March. Once completed, it will be the deepest drilling in the country, say the authorities, who remain discreet about the date on which the completion of this well can be announced.
In any case, it will not be the deepest in the world. Several wells have in fact reached greater depths. The oldest, completed in 1989, is in Russia: the Kola Superdeep Borehole (or SG-3) goes 12,262 m below the surface of the earth. And since then, new records have been set, notably by the BD-04A well (12,282 meters) drilled in 2008 by Transocean for Maersk Oil in the Al Shaheen oil field in Qatar. Or, more recently, in 2017, by the Z-44 well (12,376 meters) in the Russian Chayvo oil field, drilled by Exxon Neftegas.
