04.An Introduction to Petroleum and Natural Gas Exploration And
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Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering Volume 41, Issue 1-3, Pages 1 – 7, 2004 DOI: 10.1016/S0920-4105(03)00138-4 Print ISSN: 09204105 Editorial An introduction to petroleum and natural gas exploration and production research in China Zhijun Jin, Guoping Bai, G.Ali Mansoori (Affilations and addresses at the end) 1. History power of the ruling house and struggles for power among the regional powers. China is a huge country in eastern Asia. It is the In 221 B.C., Ying Zheng (259–210 B.C.), ruler of world’s most populous country with a population of the State of Qin and a man of great talent and bold 1.3 billion. Most of the Chinese people live in densely vision, established a centralized, unified, multi-ethnic populated areas in the eastern third of the country state in the Chinese history for the first time—the Qin where most of China’s major cities and nearly all the Dynasty (221–207 B.C.). He called himself Qin Shi farming land are located. About 36% of the people Huang meaning ‘‘First Emperor of Qin’’. He stan- live in regional cities and towns and the rest live in dardized the written scripts, weights and measures, rural areas. Mainland China has 10 cities with a and currencies. More importantly, he set up a central- population of more than 3 million each in the urban ized government system and gave his country a area. They are Shanghai, Beijing (capital of the lasting ideal-national unity. The strong central gov- nation), Chongqing, Tianjin, Wuhan, Harbin, She- ernment structure was kept in some form by the nyang, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Nanjing (Fig. 1). following dynasties for the next 2000-odd years. He As one of the world’s oldest civilization, China has a mobilized over 300,000 people over a period of a written history of nearly 4000 years. The Chinese dozen years to build the Great Wall of China, which people take great pride in their nation’s long history. stretches for 5000 km in northern China. A fossil anthropoid unearthed in the town of The Qin Dynasty was succeeded by the Han Dy- Yuanmou in Yunnan Province, southwest China is nasty (206 B.C.–A.D. 220), Three Kingdom Period referred as ‘‘Yuanmou Man’’, who lived about 1.7 (220–265), Jin Dynasty (265–420), the Southern and million years ago and is China’s earliest primitive man Northern Dynasties (420–589) and Sui Dynasty known so far. ‘‘Peking Man’’, who lived in the (581–618). In 618, Tang Dynasty was established by Zhoukoudian area near Beijing 600,000 years ago, Li Yuan. Li Shimin, son of Li Yuan, adopted a series of was able to walk upright and could make and use liberal policies, pushing China’s feudal society to its simple tools. The Neolithic age started in China peak. Many historians consider the Tang period (618– approximately 10,000 years ago. Relics from this 907) the golden age of Chinese civilization. By 660s, period have been found all over China. China’s influence had extended to many city-states in The Xia Dynasty (family of rulers) was found in Central Asia. During this period, extensive economic 2070 B.C. Its activities were centered along the and cultural relations were established with a number Yellow River in the central China. The Xia Dynasty of countries including Japan, Korea, India, Persia and is the earliest known Chinese dynasty and was suc- Arabia. ceeded by the Shang Dynasty (1600–1046 B.C.) and The Tang Dynasty was followed by the period of the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046–771 B.C.). The the Five Dynasties and Ten States when almost following Spring and Autumn (770–476 B.C.) and continual warfare was prevalent. In 960, the Song Warring States (475–221 B.C.) saw the decline in Dynasty was established and lasted until 1279. In the Z. Jin, G. Bai, G.A. Mansoori An introduction to petroleum and natural gas exploration and production research in China J. Petrol. Sci. & Eng. 41(1-3):1–7, 2004 2 Fig. 1. Locations of China’s major basins and oil/gas fields. Song Dynasty, China was in the front rank of the The succeeding Ming Dynasty ruled China from world in astronomy, science and technology. In 1271, 1368 to 1644. It was established in Nanjing by Zhu Kublai, a grandson of Genghis Khan, conquered the Yuanzhang. When his son Zhu Di took the throne in Central Plain, founded the Yuan Dynasty (1271– 1402, he built the palaces, temples, city walls and 1368), and make Dadu (today’s Beijing) the capital. moat in Beijing and officially moved the capital to During the Song-Yuan periods, the ‘‘four great inven- Beijing in 1421. The imperial palaces in Beijing’s tions’’ in science and technology by Chinese people in Forbidden City reached its current splendor largely ancient times—papermaking, printing, compass and through the efforts of Ming architects. gunpowder—were further refined and introduced to The Manchus of northeast China established the other countries, making great contributions to world Qing Dynasty (1644–1911) in 1644. Kangxi (reigned civilization. from 1661–1722) was the most famous emperor of the Z. Jin, G. Bai, G.A. Mansoori An introduction to petroleum and natural gas exploration and production research in China J. Petrol. Sci. & Eng. 41(1-3):1–7, 2004 3 period. He brought Taiwan under Qing rule. He rein- transportation artery linking the west with the east. forced the administration of Tibet and effectively The Yellow River has a total length of 5464 km. Its administrated over 11 million km2 of Chinese Territory. valley is one of the birthplaces of ancient Chinese During the 19th century, the Qing Dynasty de- Civilization. clined rapidly and ended in 1911 when the revolution led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen overthrew the Qing Dynasty 2.2. Oil and natural gas exploration and production and established the Republic of China. Following several wars from 1924–1949, the Peoples Republic China is one of the first countries who discovered of China was founded in 1949. and used oil and natural gas. Historically, China led the world in technology on natural gas and salt exploration. The first oil well drilled by a rig was 2. Background recorded in Miaoli, Taiwan in 1878. On mainland China, the first oil well-Yan-1 was drilled in Yanchang 2.1. Geography County, Shaanxi Province in the Ordos Basin) in 1907 and it discovered the first commercial oil field-Yan- Located in the east of the Asian continent, on the chang Field in China. From 1907 to early 1950s, few western shore of the Pacific Ocean, China has a land discoveries were made. In 1949 when the People’s area of about 9.6 million km2, trailing only Russia and Republic of China was founded, the national oil Canada. The territory of China spans over 49 latitudes output was only 120,000 tons (or 2400 bbl/day). Over from north to south and over 60 latitudes from east to the past 50 years, China’s petroleum industry has west. China extends over 5000 km both from north to made great progress and its domestic oil production south and from east to west. has been around 3.3 million bbl/day since 1996 but its China’s topography was completely formed around annual natural gas production has just passed through the emergence of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, which 1 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) because of its insufficient was uplifted over the past several million years due to pipeline infrastructure. the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates. Taking From 1949 to the present day, four significant a bird’s eye view of China, the terrain gradually breakthroughs have been made in China’s oil and descends from west to east like a four step ‘‘staircase’’. gas exploration and production. The first break- The young Qinghai–Tibet plateau has an average through was achieved in late 1950s when the explo- elevation of over 4000 m above sea level and con- ration focus was shifted from the west to the east. It stitutes the top of the staircase. The second step has an was marked by the discovery of the Daqing Oil field, average elevation of 1000–2000 m and it includes the the largest field in China, in the Songliao Basin in gently dipping Inner Mongolia Plateau, the Loess 1959. This discovery indicates that nonmarine sedi- Plateau, the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, the Tarim ments were not only capable of generating oil but Basin, the Junggar Basin, and the Sichuan Basin could generate enough oil to form giant fields. The (Fig. 1). The third step, dropping to an elevation of second breakthrough was made in the Bohai Bay less than 1000 m, comprises the Northeast Plain, the Basin in 1960s and early 1970s when a number of North China Plain and the Middle–Lower Yangtze major oil fields were discovered. By 1978, China’s oil Plain from north to south. The continental shelf of output passed though the milestone of 100 million eastern China forms the fourth step of the ‘‘stair- tons per year (or 2 million bbl/day). The third break- case’’. Plains account for 35% of the total land area of through was made in late 1970s when the eastern China. offshore basins were opened for cooperative explora- China abounds in rivers. The rivers draining 1000 tion and production with foreign companies. Offshore km2 or larger areas are numbered more than 1500. oil and gas production has increased from 1800 The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers are the two largest barrels oil equivalent per day (boe/day) in 1982 to rivers in China.