Daqing Oilfield steadily advances in oil, gas output

Daqing Oilfield, a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), set new records in natural gas production in 2024 while maintaining stable crude oil production for a decade.

Natural gas output from Daqing Oilfield's two major fields surpassed 6 billion cubic meters, marking a year-on-year increase of 155 million cubic meters and extending its streak of 14 years of steady growth.

The two fields are in northeast China's Songliao Basin and southwest China's Sichuan-Chongqing exploration area.

Researchers in the Songliao Basin solved tough problems such as low reserve utilization by continuously making breakthroughs in improving output using tight gas technologies, retrieving scattered associated gas in shale oil for the first time and recovering 23 million cubic meters of such gas throughout the year. In 2024, the Songliao Baisin’s yearly output of natural gas reached 5 billion cubic meters for the first time.

In the Sichuan-Chongqing exploration area, natural gas production exceeded 1 billion cubic meters for the first time, an increase of 130 million cubic meters from the previous year.

Technicians there took innovative measures to unlock additional capacity, achieving the region's seventh consecutive year of growth with a new milestone of 1.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas output.

"This year our output of natural gas has exceeded 6 billion cubic meters, which has boosted our confidence and courage. In 2025, Daqing Oilfield will focus on tapping potential and expanding capacity of gas fields to make new breakthroughs in optimizing production patterns," said Zhao Yunfei, head of the development department of Daqing Oilfield.

Daqing Oilfield's Lamadian underground gas storage in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, the country's first such facility, has maintained safe and stable operation for over 50 years, with a cumulative gas injection and extraction volume exceeding 5 billion cubic meters, fully living up to its title as an "underground granary" to ensure natural gas supply.

The construction of China's first volcanic rock gas storage is underway in Heilongjiang. With five wells currently being drilled, the project aims to enhance natural gas distribution and supply ability.

Daqing Oilfield has also achieved stable crude oil production for 10 consecutive years, of which the output of tertiary recovery has exceeded 10 million tons for 23 consecutive years, with a cumulative output of nearly 320 million tons.

Daqing Oilfield steadily advances in oil, gas output

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Tuesday described the military strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran as a "violation of international law" and a "politically fatal error."

Speaking at an event marking the 75th anniversary of the re-establishment of the German Foreign Ministry, Steinmeier said the war was "avoidable and unnecessary" if the intended goal was to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Steinmeier said international law remains "a regulatory framework, a rule book, and a source of legitimacy" for both Germany and Europe. "This Europe would be lost in a world without law and rules, as the European Union itself is built on them," he noted.

Steinmeier pointed to a deep rift that has emerged in the transatlantic relationship since the beginning of U.S. President Donald Trump's second term, calling on Germany and its European partners to reduce "dependencies that make us vulnerable," specifically in the fields of security and technology.

"Achieving European sovereignty in defense and technology is a project that will take generations to complete," Steinmeier said, stressing that the magnitude of this task must no longer serve as an excuse for delay.

German president says US-Israeli strikes on Iran violate int'l law