China Discovers 180-Million-Tonne Shale Oil ReservesBeijing, 4 Mar (ONA) —- Sinopec, China’s largest oil refiner,
announced the discovery of two major shale oilfields in the east of
the country with combined proven reserves of 180 million tonnes.

The confirmation of the Xinxing and Qintong oilfields, which was
approved by China’s Ministry of Natural Resources, is a strategic
move to exploit and identify shale oil reserves in the country’s
continental rift basins.

The assessment is the first time to use China’s independently
developed industry standards for the estimation of shale oil and
continental shale oil system data, providing experience for the
improvement of technical specifications and the reserve evaluation of
shale oil in the future, China’s news agency (Xinhua) quoted Li
Jinggong, head of the ministry’s oil reserves assessment team, as
saying.

Sinopec is aiming to see an annual shale oil output of 2 million
tonnes by the end of the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), with
an annual increase in proven reserves exceeding 100 million tonnes
during the period.

The recoverable shale oil reserves in China, one of the world’s
major crude oil consumers, ranks third globally. Data from China’s
National Energy Administration shows that the country’s crude oil
production was 213 million tonnes in 2024, while its shale oil output
surged to 6 million tonnes, a year-on-year increase of over 30
percent.—- Ends/Khalid