China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) has wrapped up the first phase development of the Weirong shale gas field in southwestern Sichuan province in China.
According to the Chinese state-owned firm, the new shale gas field is estimated to have a production capacity of one billion cubic meters of natural gas per annum.
Presently, 3.5 million cubic meters of gas per day is being drawn from the onshore field.
The company tweeted: “Sinopec completed the first phase of the Weirong shale gas field, with an annual production capacity of 1 billion cubic meters of natural gas. Its daily production capacity reached 3.5 million m³, sufficient to cover the daily gas consumption of 7 million households.”
Sinopec, which began the first phase of development in late 2019, had drilled 56 wells. The wells have been attached to eight drilling platforms.
Prior to that, in March 2019, the company said that an exploration well called Dongye-1, which was drilled in the shale gas field in the Dingshan-Dongxi Block, had a daily output of 310,000 cubic meters in test production.
Weirong is second major shale gas development for Sinopec
Weirong marks the second major shale gas development for Sinopec following Fuling gas field, which is also contained in the Sichuan basin.
The average well depth at the Weirong site is 3,750m under the earth’s surface. Sinopec is looking to unlock proven reserves of 124.7 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas at the Weirong field.
Sinopec plans to move ahead with the phase 2 development of the Weirong shale gas field, reported Reuters.
The second phase is expected to ramp up the annual production capacity of the field to 3bcm in 2022, which is enough gas to meet the annual consumption of 16 million households.
