CNPC makes one billion tonne oil and gas field discovery in Tarim Basin

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has reportedly made what it claims to be the largest oil and gas field discovery in the Tarim Basin in the last ten years, with reserves of one billion tonnes.

This basin is located in the Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The well is located in the Fuman Oilfield area, which is the main block for producing crude oil in the Tarim Oilfield.

It was drilled to a depth of 8,470m, while the height of test oil column reached 550m. This marks the well with deepest oil production and the highest oil column in the basin’s desert area.

Tarim Oilfield Co under CNPC general manager Yang Xuewen was reported by CCTV Plus as saying: “We have grasped the geological rules of oil and gas reservoirs. In Fuman Oilfield, we have successively drilled 56 tonne to 100 tonne wells and found a new oil reserve area of 1 billion tonnes (about 907 million tonnes).

“This has been the largest discovery of oil exploration in the Tarim Basin in the recent decade.”

The Fuman Oilfield, which is claimed to be one of the world’s most difficult areas to explore, has major oil producing zone at a depth of about 8,000m below the surface.

The annual production from the Fuman Oilfield increased from about 30,000 tonnes since its discovery six year ago, to 1.52 million tonnes in 2020. Production from this field is estimated to reach two million tonnes this year.

As per estimates, the Tarim Basin holds about 16 billion tonnes of oil and gas reserves discovered, making it the country’s largest oil and gas bearing area.