BRIC Team reports: US Europe Arab Asia Africa | Politics Economy Oil&Energy Entertainment Sport 403 Sorry!! We're sorry, but the page you were looking for doesn't exist. Sinopec's Ziyang Dongfeng Shale Gas Field Reports Proven Reserve Of 235.687 Billion Cubic Meters Date 2026-05-13 06:46:33 Share on Facebook Tweet on Twitter (MENAFN- PR Newswire) ZIYANG, China, May 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation ("Sinopec", HKG: 0386) has announced a major shale gas exploration breakthrough of its "Project Deep Earth - Sichuan and Chongqing Natural Gas Base".
The Ziyang Dongfeng shale gas field, operated by Sinopec, has secured official approval for proven geological reserves of 235.687 billion cubic meters from the Ministry of Natural Resources of China. This marks the birth of China's first ultra-deep, 100-billion-cubic-meter-level shale gas field, pushing exploration and development beyond 4,500 meters. Continue Reading The Ziyang Dongfeng in the Sichuan Basin is a large, integrated shale gas field discovered in the Cambrian Qiongzhusi Formation, the earth's oldest commercial shale layer, formed 540 million years ago.
Background
Buried 4,500–5,200 meters deep, it posed globally recognized exploration challenges such as unclear reservoir characteristics, complex accumulation mechanisms, thick difficult-to-drill formations, and extreme heat and pressure. The Sinopec team moved beyond conventional exploration models. By integrating AI into geophysical imaging, they effectively "CT‐scanned" subsurface formations, enabling clear reservoir identification and gas detection.
Key facts
- US Europe Arab Asia Africa | Politics Economy Oil&Energy Entertainment Sport 403 Sorry!!
- We're sorry, but the page you were looking for doesn't exist.
- This marks the birth of China's first ultra-deep, 100-billion-cubic-meter-level shale gas field, pushing exploration and development beyond 4,500 meters.
- The Sinopec team moved beyond conventional exploration models.
- By integrating AI into geophysical imaging, they effectively "CT‐scanned" subsurface formations, enabling clear reservoir identification and gas detection.
What this means
Combined with breakthroughs in ultra‐deep drilling and fracturing, these efforts have yielded a fully proprietary technology system for Cambrian ultra‐deep shale gas exploration. "After over a decade of persistent effort, we have taken Cambrian shale gas from zero to a hundred-billion-cubic-meter-scale reserve base. This validates the formation's vast potential and gives us a replicable technical pathway to expand China's shale gas development frontier," said Liu Wei, director of Sinopec Southwest Petroleum Bureau and representative of Sinopec Southwest Oil & Gas Company.
"Our next step is to drive high-quality exploration and production, accelerate capacity growth at Ziyang Dongfeng, and contribute to secure national energy security."Sinopec continues to drive the high-quality development of China's shale gas industry. In 2012, Sinopec discovered the Fuling shale gas field, launching China's commercial shale gas development and making China the third country (after the U.S. and Canada) to achieve commercial-scale shale gas production.
