Status and prospects of exploration and exploitation of the deep oil & gas resources onshore China

Abstract

Deep oil and gas exploration and exploitation have made a series of significant breakthroughs in recent years. However, the progress, challenges and development trend of exploration and development of onshore deep oil and gas resources in China have not been systematically analyzed. This article summarized five fundamental characters of deep petroleum resources: (1) More gas and less oil, with complicated phase state; (2) Universally high temperature and high pressure, but great differences existing in different basins or strata; (3) Multi hydrocarbon accommodation, multi hydrocarbon sources; (4) Relatively dense reservoir, but having large scale efficient reservoirs; (5) Complicated accumulation and multi period reconstructions. Based on the exploration and development history of deep oil and gas, it is regarded that the exploration and development of deep petroleum in China is at the “large-scale discovery stage”, and great achievements have been obtained in the carbonate/clastic/volcanic reservoirs, but four challenges still exist: (1) complex hydrocarbon generation, reservoir evolution and accumulation restrict the exploration orientation and targets; (2) the long period and high cost of well drilling restrict the petroleum discovery and efficient development; (3) immature high temperature & high pressure slim hole logging technology restricts accurate identification of hydrocarbon reservoir; (4) unadapted petroleum recovery technique and equipment restrict effective development and large scale utilization. On the basis of comprehensive analysis, it is concluded that deep petroleum resources mainly exist in three areas of six basins in onshore China, with great exploration potential, which is strategic replacement. It is suggested that petroleum companies, universities research institute should be gathered to overcome problems in limited time, integrate innovative achievements, and develop deep oil & gas exploration and development theories and technical system to support deep oil & gas rapid development.