The daily output of the Jimsar continental shale oil demonstration zone in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has exceeded an all-time high of 5,000 tonnes, marking a significant breakthrough in the country's shale oil exploitation, according to China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).
As the first national-level shale oil demonstration zone for continental shale oil, the Jimsar zone, located in the eastern Junggar Basin of Xinjiang, covers an area of 1,278 square kilometers with estimated resources exceeding one billion tonnes.
Shale oil, categorized into continental and marine types, mainly refers to liquid hydrocarbons trapped in formations of shale rock that can be extracted for refining. It is often found in organic-rich shale and thin interlayers of carbonate rock, sandstone and siltstone.
China has abundant shale oil resources, but they are mainly continental shale oil, making exploration and production difficult.
The new daily output record will further drive the productivity of China's follow-up resource exploitation, according to CNPC.
"By 2025, the annual output of Jimsar shale oil field will surpass 1.7 million tons, fully accomplishing the construction goals of this national-level shale oil demonstration zone for continental shale oil. The key technologies and management experience developed here will provide the 'Jimsar Model' for domestic shale oil exploitation," said Du Xuebiao, manager of the Jiqing oilfield operation area of the Xinjiang Oilfield Company, a subsidiary of PetroChina under the CNPC.
China's major shale oil base achieves daily output of 5,000 tonnes
