China Shale News Review – December. 18 , 2025
◊ Million-Ton Directional Well Breakthrough
By November 28, Changqing Oilfield had drilled 1,720 large-inclination wells in Gansu’s Longdong region, achieving an average daily output of 3.2 tons and over 800,000 tons of annual production. This marks China’s first million-ton directional-well development zone, offering a replicable model for multi-layer tight oil. Since 2019, Changqing integrated seismic, geological, and logging data to pinpoint “sweet spots,” and established the “large-inclination well + five-spot pattern + advance water injection” model. Through refined reservoir characterization and multi-layer fracturing, vertical recovery efficiency exceeded 80%, unlocking efficient development of complex tight reservoirs.
◊ Sinopec Discovers New Hydrocarbon System
Sinopec’s high-risk exploration well Da-4, located on the southeastern margin of the Junggar Basin, has achieved industrial oil and gas flows, marking the first discovery of a new petroleum system in the area. The well recorded peak daily production of 24.12 cubic meters of oil and 6,125 cubic meters of gas. After decades of limited success in the Chaiwopu Sag, researchers re-evaluated basin evolution and near-source exploration potential, leading to the deployment of Da-4 in 2022. Despite initial setbacks, deeper drilling confirmed hydrocarbon source rocks and thick reservoirs, demonstrating strong exploration potential and opening a new reserve replacement zone.
◊ AI-Driven Fracturing Boosts Shale Productivity
Jianghan Oilfield has built an AI-powered “design–execution–evaluation” closed-loop fracturing optimization system based on Sinopec’s Changheng AI model, greatly improving efficiency, quality, output, and cost control. The system enabled high-yield results such as the JY18-12HF well’s 143,000 m³/d output, marking breakthroughs in Fuling’s mature shale blocks. Through intelligent parameter optimization, real-time fracture diagnostics, and automated quality evaluation, the system shifts decisions from experience-based to model-driven. It enhances design accuracy by 50%, predicts sand plugging with 92% accuracy, reduces risk to 0.5%, and enables minute-level fracture fitting, supporting rapid, data-driven shale gas development.
◊ PetroChina, Sinopec Deepen Shale Cooperation
On December 3, a PetroChina Southwest Oil & Gasfield delegation led by Li Hai visited Sinopec Southwest’s Shale Gas Project Department for technical and management exchanges. Sinopec reviewed its shale oil and gas exploration and development history, organization, and the opportunities and challenges of boosting reserves and output in the Qiongzhusi Formation. It shared measures for wellbore design optimization, drilling process improvements, and fracturing upgrades under complex geology, alongside cost-reduction and efficiency practices, including its “Three Ones” project management concept and incentive mechanisms. The two sides discussed current well engineering difficulties and solutions. Li raised 23 questions and called for summarizing lessons, unifying key management standards, and expanding sustained cooperation.
(Source: Energy China Forum)
