Well Kela 2-5 in Tarim Oilfield Hits 10 Billion Cubic Meters of Cumulative Gas Production

On April 15, it was learned from Tarim Oilfield that Well Kela 2-5 has produced a cumulative 10.01 billion cubic meters of natural gas, becoming the 7th high-yield gas well in Kela 2 Gasfield with cumulative output exceeding 10 billion cubic meters. Together with the previous 6 wells, it forms a high-yield gas well group, enabling Kela 2 Gasfield to maintain the record of the highest average single-well output among single gasfields in China and further consolidating its important strategic position as the "first source of the West-East Gas Pipeline Project".

China Petroleum News reported that Kela 2 Gasfield, where Well Kela 2-5 is located, is situated in the Kuqa Depression at the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains on the northern edge of the Tarim Basin. With crisscrossed gullies and precipitous terrain, the area faces geological development challenges such as ultra-high pressure and ultra-high temperature underground.

In such an "exploration forbidden zone", oil workers from Tarim have conducted years of exploration and research. In 1998, they obtained high-yield natural gas flow from Well Kela 2, discovering Kela 2 Gasfield — the largest gasfield with ultra-high pressure, ultra-high yield and ultra-high abundance in China at that time — which directly promoted the launch of the West-East Gas Pipeline Project. The gasfield was officially put into production in December 2004 and began supplying gas to the West-East Gas Pipeline.

In recent years, to meet the growing gas demand downstream, Tarim Oilfield has made great efforts to tackle water control and stable production technologies for water-bearing gas reservoirs. It has formed the core development technology of "control, adjustment, drainage and injection" — taking the initiative to control production after water breakthrough, adjusting vertical productivity, strengthening drainage in high-permeability layers and injecting nitrogen to block water at the water invasion front.

This technology has broken the development limit of conventional strong water-driven gas reservoirs, realizing high-quality full-life-cycle development of Kela 2 Gasfield and continuously improving natural gas production capacity. Wang Jun, a senior engineer from the Kela Oil and Gas Production Management Zone of Tarim Oilfield, said that 32 technicians and operators are responsible for the operation and maintenance of 33 gas wells in the gasfield, with one employee managing one well.

The average daily output of a single well reaches 860,000 cubic meters, creating an efficient low-manpower development model of "one person, one well, one city". At present, in addition to 7 gas wells with cumulative output exceeding 10 billion cubic meters, Kela 2 Gasfield also has 12 high-yield gas wells with cumulative output exceeding 1 billion cubic meters, achieving a leap from high yield to long-term stable production.