12 February 2014, News Wires – China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) said it has made a major new gas discovery in the Sichuan basin that will add to the state-owned company’s proved reserves.
CNPC found a conventional gas reservoir in the Cambrian-aged Longwangmiao formation, part of the Anyue gas field within the Moxi block in central Sichuan province.
The formation has an estimated 440.4 billion cubic metres of gas in place, with technically recoverable reserves of 308.2 Bcm, CNPC said in a statement on its English website.
“This is the largest monomer marine uncompartmentalised carbonate gas reservoir discovered in China up to now, featured by large reserve scale, broad gas-bearing areas, high formation pressure, high gas flow, and superior gas components,” the statement said.
Wells that are currently online pump about 600,000 cubic metres per day, according to CNPC.
The Anyue gas field is located at the paleo uplift of central Sichuan. CNPC has drilled two exploration wells there since 2011, Gaoshi-1 and Moxi-8.
CNPC the first phase, 4 Bcm-capacity construction project is in “full swing” and the second-phase 6 Bcm project “has already been kicked off”.
Well tests at the Moxi block has produced a total of more than 600 million cubic metres of gas.
China has been actively trying to ramp up its gas production to help fuel its rapidly expanding economy. Gas consumption is expected to increase to 6.5% of the country’s energy mix this year, up from 5.2% in 2012.
China consumed 169 Bcm of gas in 2013, according to the National Development and Reform Commission, and imported about 32% of it.
China had 3.1 trillion cubic metres of gas reserves at the end of 2012.
-Upstream
