(1) Unconventional oil and gas is the key to
increased production and reserves
Tight oil and gas is an effective supplement to
conventional oil and gas. China will focus on
Ordos, Sichuan and the Tarim Basin to ensure
speedy scale development of medium- and
low-grade tight gas resources and difficult-torecover oil reserves. By 2030, the output of tight
oil and tight gas will be 50 Mt and 100 million
cubic metres respectively.
As the exploration and development of shale
gas resources accelerate, the technologies and
equipment needed to exploit them will improve.
Seismic measurement and interpretation during
drilling, rotary steering drilling, hydraulic fracture
monitoring, horizontal well drilling and downhole
micro-seismic monitoring will all progress.
Breakthroughs will be made in the exploration and
development of organic-rich marine shale in south
China and organic-rich mudstone in the north. By
2030, China’s shale gas production will exceed
100 billion cubic metres.
Coalbed methane (CBM) production will
grow. Technologies like CBM reservoir engineering and dynamic evaluation, underbalanced
drilling, fracturing stimulation and extraction,
and the recycling of low-concentration coal mine
gas will all advance as CBM extraction shifts
from high-quality reservoirs to deep and complex
strata. By 2030, China’s CBM production will
reach around 50 billion cubic metres.
(2) Unconventional oil and gas will replace
conventional
As breakthroughs are made in exploration and
extraction technologies, the challenges in
exploiting China’s oil and gas resources in
reservoirs deeper than 3,500 m onshore and
500 m offshore will be addressed, enabling production at scale. In deep onshore shale, technical
difficulties such as identifying deep-strata targets
and fracturing at high earth temperatures, at high
pressure and in complex lithology will be solved.
Innovation will enable oil and gas resources to be
exploited in deep carbonate rock, clastic rock and
volcanic rock. This in turn will allow China to
develop at scale its deep shale oil and gas
resources in the Tarim Basin, Sichuan, Ordos,
Bohai Bay, Songliao Basin and Junggar Basin.
Offshore, breakthroughs in deep-water technologies like deep-water drilling, subsea processing, subsea pipeline transmission and
semisubmersible production will accelerate
exploration and development in the East China
Sea, the South China Sea and the Huanghai Sea.
(3) The shift to clean and green production
Oil and gas fields should be developed in an optimal and integrated way to ensure that production,
refining and waste disposal are centralised. This
will minimise the production footprint and oil and
gas losses. Drilling technologies like multilateral
well, horizontal well, slimhole drilling and air
drilling will be widely deployed and the waste
produced from oil and gas field construction
effectively controlled. The use of non-toxic or
slightly toxic chemicals in oil and gas fields will
increase significantly, and oil spills will be avoided
to ensure maximum recovery and safeguard the
environment. The well liquid recycling rate will
exceed 95%. The wastewater produced in the
drilling process will be completely recycled and
acid residual liquids, fracturing residual fluids and
flow-back fluids fully recycled or disposed of in a
harmless way. When a field is decommissioned, the
production platform and infrastructure will be
completely recycled. Potential environmental risks
in shale gas development will be identified and
avoided, and the whole-process supervision system
will continuously improve to ensure environmentally friendly development.
4.2 Characteristics of Non-fossil
Energy Supply
4.2.1 Hydropower: Continuous Growth
in Capacity, Within
Ecological Red-Line
Regulations
Large hydropower projects will continue. By
2020, the construction of large hydropower plants
in the middle and lower reaches of the Jinsha,
Yalung, Dadu and Lancang rivers, and the upper
150
W. Xiaoming et al.
increased production and reserves
Tight oil and gas is an effective supplement to
conventional oil and gas. China will focus on
Ordos, Sichuan and the Tarim Basin to ensure
speedy scale development of medium- and
low-grade tight gas resources and difficult-torecover oil reserves. By 2030, the output of tight
oil and tight gas will be 50 Mt and 100 million
cubic metres respectively.
As the exploration and development of shale
gas resources accelerate, the technologies and
equipment needed to exploit them will improve.
Seismic measurement and interpretation during
drilling, rotary steering drilling, hydraulic fracture
monitoring, horizontal well drilling and downhole
micro-seismic monitoring will all progress.
Breakthroughs will be made in the exploration and
development of organic-rich marine shale in south
China and organic-rich mudstone in the north. By
2030, China’s shale gas production will exceed
100 billion cubic metres.
Coalbed methane (CBM) production will
grow. Technologies like CBM reservoir engineering and dynamic evaluation, underbalanced
drilling, fracturing stimulation and extraction,
and the recycling of low-concentration coal mine
gas will all advance as CBM extraction shifts
from high-quality reservoirs to deep and complex
strata. By 2030, China’s CBM production will
reach around 50 billion cubic metres.
(2) Unconventional oil and gas will replace
conventional
As breakthroughs are made in exploration and
extraction technologies, the challenges in
exploiting China’s oil and gas resources in
reservoirs deeper than 3,500 m onshore and
500 m offshore will be addressed, enabling production at scale. In deep onshore shale, technical
difficulties such as identifying deep-strata targets
and fracturing at high earth temperatures, at high
pressure and in complex lithology will be solved.
Innovation will enable oil and gas resources to be
exploited in deep carbonate rock, clastic rock and
volcanic rock. This in turn will allow China to
develop at scale its deep shale oil and gas
resources in the Tarim Basin, Sichuan, Ordos,
Bohai Bay, Songliao Basin and Junggar Basin.
Offshore, breakthroughs in deep-water technologies like deep-water drilling, subsea processing, subsea pipeline transmission and
semisubmersible production will accelerate
exploration and development in the East China
Sea, the South China Sea and the Huanghai Sea.
(3) The shift to clean and green production
Oil and gas fields should be developed in an optimal and integrated way to ensure that production,
refining and waste disposal are centralised. This
will minimise the production footprint and oil and
gas losses. Drilling technologies like multilateral
well, horizontal well, slimhole drilling and air
drilling will be widely deployed and the waste
produced from oil and gas field construction
effectively controlled. The use of non-toxic or
slightly toxic chemicals in oil and gas fields will
increase significantly, and oil spills will be avoided
to ensure maximum recovery and safeguard the
environment. The well liquid recycling rate will
exceed 95%. The wastewater produced in the
drilling process will be completely recycled and
acid residual liquids, fracturing residual fluids and
flow-back fluids fully recycled or disposed of in a
harmless way. When a field is decommissioned, the
production platform and infrastructure will be
completely recycled. Potential environmental risks
in shale gas development will be identified and
avoided, and the whole-process supervision system
will continuously improve to ensure environmentally friendly development.
4.2 Characteristics of Non-fossil
Energy Supply
4.2.1 Hydropower: Continuous Growth
in Capacity, Within
Ecological Red-Line
Regulations
Large hydropower projects will continue. By
2020, the construction of large hydropower plants
in the middle and lower reaches of the Jinsha,
Yalung, Dadu and Lancang rivers, and the upper
150
W. Xiaoming et al.