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China Petroleum & Chemical Confirms 236 Billion Cubic Meters of Proven Shale Gas Reserves

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China Petroleum & Chemical has assessed the proven geological reserves of the Ziyang Dongfeng shale gas field at 235.69 billion cubic meters, demonstrating China's first major ultra-deep exploration breakthrough, it said on Wednesday.

The country's Ministry of Natural Resources has approved the reserve figures. The gas field is located within the Sichuan Basin, with large-scale shale gas reserves found in the Cambrian Qiongzhusi Formation, at depths of 4,500 to 5,200 meters.

The company said it has deployed a proprietary technology, using artificial intelligence and other ultra-deep drilling and fracturing models, to explore the Cambrian formation, which is now a "100-billion-cubic-meter-scale reserve base".

China Petroleum's role in the country's shale gas industry has expanded over the years.

In 2012, it had discovered the Fuling shale gas field, which it developed into a 10-billion-cubic-meter-capacity reserve base in 2017.

It had found proven reserves in the Weirong shale gas field in 2018, the Qijiang field in 2022, and the Yongchuan and Hongxing fileds in 2025. Each field has at least 100 billion cubic meters of proven reserves, the company said.

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