China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation ('Sinopec') has announced that the West Sichuan gas field, Sinopec's third 100-billion-cubic-meter submarine natural gas field in the Sichuan basin, has been completed, marking another major milestone for its Project Deep Earth – Sichuan and Chongqing Natural Gas Base. The new gas field, with an annual output of 2 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 130,000 tons of sulfur, is set to provide more clean energy for Southwestern China and the regions along the Sichuan-East pipeline.
The Sichuan Basin, rich in natural gas resources, has been the focus of Sinopec's deep-sea oil and gas exploration since 2000, which led to the discovery of the Puguang and Yuanba gas fields. Later, Sinopec Southwest Petroleum Bureau unveiled the formation mechanism and enrichment regularities of the tidal flat facies dolomite gas reservoir and, in 2014, detected the West Sichuan Gas Field, which holds proven geological reserves of over 100 billion cubic meters.
Sinopec overcame challenges such as low porosity and permeability in the West Sichuan Gas Field by pioneering engineering solutions, resulting in high yields with fewer wells. Innovations include a new anti-collapse drilling fluid system and advanced technologies for controlling borehole trajectories in ultra-deep wells over 8,000 meters. Their segmentation technology for ultra-long horizontal wells is now considered world-leading, significantly enhancing the productivity and reserve extraction of individual wells.
The West Sichuan Gas Field, designed and built by Sinopec, features integrated gas extraction and desulfurization processes, ensuring closed-loop desulfurization and efficient green production. The gas field boasts natural gas sulfur recovery rates of over 99.9% and produces gas that meets national standards while ensuring zero wastewater discharge. Additionally, it implements smart technology to enhance safety, risk control, and operation management, reducing carbon emissions.
Sinopec has significantly developed gas reserves in the Sichuan Basin, including the Puguang and Yuanba sour gas fields with over 100 billion cubic meters each, and the Fuling and Weirong shale gas fields, the former being China's first shale gas field that has 10 billion cubic meters of output, the latter holding more than 100 billion cubic meters in reserves. The company has nearly 3 trillion cubic meters of gas reserves in the basin, achieving an annual output of 26 billion cubic meters and a total production exceeding 200 billion cubic meters.
Source: Sinopec
