China expands its gas reserves with the discovery of a billion-cubic-meter field 

Now that the crudest part of the COVID-19 pandemic, which hit China in the first place, has passed, it seems that destiny is once again smiling on the Asian giant. Low oil prices are allowing it to get its hands on a hydrocarbon it lacks at a very low cost. Moreover, it is taking advantage of the moment to accumulate these resources. The discovery of a new gas field, of a million cubic meters, in the city of Tianbao (Sinchuan) on Monday reinforces the country's position.  

Xie Jun, party secretary and general director of the oil and gas company, explained that they will build an infrastructure to process 30 billion gas and hope to expand to 50 billion more in the future. The company said that on Monday, production from the Pengtan 1 well, located in the same area and with a depth of 6,376 meters, amounted to 1.198 million cubic meters of natural gas. The total volume of gas reserves in the fields operated by the company has reached 30 trillion cubic meters, according to China's press agency. 

These new reserves are in addition to the oil and crude oil found in an area of Asia last January, according to the Global Times. The discovery was made in the Tarim oil field in the autonomous territory of Xinjiand, in the northwest of the country, in an 8,882-meter deep well that was first drilled in July last year. "The depth of the newly discovered well is rare. Oil and gas wells in China are mainly between 200 and 500 meters," said an oil engineer quoted by Global Times.  

With the shrinking capacity of their oil and gas fields already under exploitation, China's oil giants face high exploration costs that will be increasingly felt as international oil prices are unlikely to rise significantly in the coming years. However, China's three state-owned oil companies continue to intensify their explorations to stabilise domestic production and ensure the country's energy security. 

PetroChina Southwest Oil and Gasfield Company is responsible for supplying gas to more than 1,000 large and medium industrial companies, as well as more than 20 million households and about 10,000 utility companies in southwest China.