PetroChina Southwest Oil and Gas Field Hits Record First-Half Output Amid Major Exploration Breakthroughs

According to PetroChina, PetroChina Southwest Oil and Gas Field Company delivered simultaneous growth in oil and gas production across the first six months of the year. It produced 25.31 billion cubic metres of natural gas, with oil and gas equivalent output surpassing 20 million tonnes to set a new record for the corresponding period.

The Sichuan Basin holds abundant natural gas resources yet features highly intricate geological structures that render exploration extremely challenging. The operator has ramped up focused exploration work and secured eight new discoveries and advances across four key domains: marine carbonate rock, continental tight gas, shale gas and crude oil.

In crude oil exploration, the newly discovered Nanchong Shunqing Oilfield stands as the first tight oilfield within the Sichuan Basin, filling the gap in large-scale tight oil exploration in the basin. Nine pilot wells targeting Jurassic crude oil in central Sichuan reached total depth in May. Drilling also commenced on the first pilot well for shale-type shale oil, achieving a daily drilling rate of 1,015 metres and setting a new regional benchmark.

Refined production management frameworks have been rolled out to sustain development. Against challenges including complex reservoir properties and mounting extraction difficulties, the operator advances conventional and unconventional gas resources in parallel, balances exploration with development, and pursues output expansion from mature fields alongside new blocks. An innovative “one well, four reefs” development scheme has been deployed at the Wolonghe Gas Field, lifting the volume of resources controlled by each individual well from 500 million cubic metres to more than one billion cubic metres.

A tailored “one strategy per well” approach has revitalised numerous marginal and water-flooded wells. Following overhaul and acidisation stimulation, Well Moxi 022-X11 resumed production with daily gas output exceeding 350,000 cubic metres. Two highly deviated horizontal wells at the Wushankan Gas Field adopted integrated composite technologies to raise combined daily output to 71,000 cubic metres. Within the southern Sichuan shale gas zone, zipper fracturing is implemented on platform wells, lifting operational efficiency and cutting construction costs.

The operator will continue advancing integrated exploration and development technologies tailored to the basin’s complex geology. Ongoing drilling and stimulation programmes will unlock additional tight oil, shale oil and natural gas reserves to support steady domestic energy supply.