Gas to prop up output in Daqing

China's biggest oilfield, facing depleting output, is increasingly relying on natural gas to maintain production levels. The focus now is on extracting deep natural gas, whose reserves are estimated at 1,200 bcm. Deep natural gas exists in deposits far underground at typical depths of around 3,000 meters, way beyond conventional drilling depths, which are usually only a few hundred meters.

Operated by China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), Daqing is the country's largest oilfield, with an annual production of 45 million tons [0.90 mbpd] oil equivalent. CNPC's target is to keep Daqing's production at 42 million tons [0.84 mbpd] oil equivalent annually by 2010, when natural gas will contribute to 9.5% of the total output. By 2020, annual gas production at Daqing is forecast to be at 11.5 bcm, or 22.5% of its 40-million-ton [0.80 mbpd] oil equivalent production.

"As oil production is decreasing year on year, it is necessary to further explore gas resources at Daqing to make the overall output stable," Han Xuegong, a senior analyst with CNPC, told China Daily.

- This is ominous in a way that peakoilers would quickly appreciate. Daqing is China's largest oil field, and it is also the world's 4th largest. Back in 25 Jan 2005, I posted this : ... it appears China may have peaked. The main field Daqing produced 46.4 million tons in 2004 compared to 48.4 in 2003, over a 4% decrease.

Let's convert this back to "old-school" million barrels per day [mbpd] figures. We know that one ton of oil is 7.33 barrels, so 1 million tons is 7.33 million barrels. And we know that a year is about 365 days, give or take. So that's : 2003 = 0.97 mbpd, 2004 = 0.93 mbpd. Compare to the figures above.

Let's hope they find that "deep gas".

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