CCTV News: Over 5,300 meters, my country breaks the record of shale gas well lever depth

The reporter learned from Sinopec on the 13th that a shale gas exploration well located in the Sichuan Basin has a lever depth of more than 5,300 meters. This depth breaks the record of vertical depth of shale gas wells in my country.

The vertical depth of a shale gas well refers to the depth from the wellhead position to the bottom of the well in the vertical direction. Through vertical depth data, engineers can judge the location and thickness of shale gas reservoirs, and then evaluate the reserves and admissibility of shale gas.

The horizontal exploration well on the iron north 1 side of the Puguang Gas Field, which set a record of vertical depth, is located in the Puguang area of ​​the Sichuan Basin. The daily production of natural gas tested by the exploration well reached 314,500 cubic meters. The Puguang area where the exploration well is located is rich in shale gas resources, but most of the resources are distributed in ultra-deep fields with a burial depth of more than 4,500 meters. In response to the difficulties of high strata pressure, large stress difference and many limestone interlayers in the ultra-deep shale gas reservoir, the research team innovates processing technology, making the drilling accuracy of the drilling well comparable to "leading needles at underground thousands of meters deep". At the same time, using the independently developed 175 MPa ultra-high pressure fracturing equipment, a crisscrossing oil and gas transmission pipeline was opened in the high-pressure strata of 5,300 meters underground.

Sino Petrochemical Central Oilfield Chief Expert Peng Jun: In the next step, we will accelerate the preparation of the overall exploration and development plan for Permian shale gas in the Puguang Exploration Zone, promote efficient resource transformation, and accelerate the "deep-ground forbidden zone" into a "deep-ground granary".

Shale gas has become an important successor for my country's oil and gas production increase

my country has the characteristics of "rich coal, poor oil and less gas" and is a major oil and gas importer. In recent years, with the continuous innovation of key technologies for oil and gas exploration and development, shale gas is becoming a successor field for my country's oil and gas exploration and sustainable storage and production.

Shale gas is an unconventional natural gas type. It requires crushing shale to allow gas to come out. It is recognized by the industry as a world-class problem. my country has rich shale gas resources, but compared with North American shale gas, the geological conditions are more complex and the exploration and development are more difficult.

The commercial development of Fuling shale gas fields in 2012 made my country the third country to realize the commercial development of shale gas except the United States and Canada. In 2017, my country's first shale gas field with a production capacity of 10 billion cubic meters was built; in 2020, my country's first deep shale gas field with proven reserves exceeding 100 billion cubic meters - the Weirong Shale Gas Field Phase I project.

At present, my country has built three national shale gas demonstration zones in the Sichuan Basin, Fuling, Weiyuan-Changning and Zhaotong, and has discovered 8 shale gas fields in Fuling, Changning, Zhaotong, Weiyuan, Luzhou, Weirong, Yongchuan and Qijiang. The ultra-deep shale gas resources in the Sichuan Basin are 16.5 trillion cubic meters, realizing the localization of key equipment and tools and effectively ensuring national energy security.