China's major shale oil base reports production breakthrough

URUMQI, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- A major shale oil production zone in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region reported its crude oil output exceeding 1.7 million tonnes so far this year, marking a significant breakthrough in the country's shale oil development, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) announced on Tuesday.

The shale oil output of the zone saw a 4.2-fold increase from 322,000 tonnes in 2020, said Du Xuebiao, manager of Jiqing oilfield operation zone of CNPC's Xinjiang Oilfield.

In the face of complex geological conditions and technical challenges, researchers and technicians at the zone have explored a whole system of techniques to boost the production with high efficiency, he said.

Established in Xinjiang's Jimsar County in 2020, the zone is China's first national-level continental shale oil production area with an estimated shale oil reserve of over 1 billion tonnes.

The research team at the Jimsar zone has also developed management systems and waste-recycling techniques to provide replicable, scalable, and low-carbon models for the development of similar shale oil reserves, said Wang Haiming, a senior engineer of Jiqing oilfield operation zone.

Shale oil, defined as liquid hydrocarbons trapped within shale rock formations and extractable for refining, is a widely distributed energy resource with reserves that significantly exceed those of conventional oil sources.

In addition to Xinjiang, China has established two other national-level shale oil demonstration zones in Heilongjiang and Shandong to facilitate shale oil development.

In 2024, China's shale oil production exceeded 6 million tonnes, an increase of 30 percent year on year.