The oil and gas industry after the collapse of oil prices has experienced a "cold winter" of low prices and low returns for more than three years. In 2018, the price of oil soared and plummeted, but it was more calm and calm, and progressed steadily. Not only the good news of the upstream exploration results, but also the multi-point cooperation between China and foreign countries; the reform of the midstream pipeline network has also been substantially promoted, and connectivity has been further advanced. And the dynamic downstream market is also becoming more standardized, and the healthy competition in the market is exciting.

In 2018, the oil and gas industry implemented reflections and reflections on industry issues, and the industry gradually picked up. It is also hoped that while this "enthusiasm" will continue, the reform will continue to be implemented.

Upstream: Reforms come to fruition

In 2017, the upstream policies of the oil and gas industry frequently appeared, especially the "Several Opinions on Deepening the Reform of the Oil and Gas System", which pointed out that it is necessary to improve and orderly release the oil and gas exploration and production system in the upstream of the entire industrial chain, and implement the competitive transfer and withdrawal of exploration blocks mechanism.

After one year, "do what you say".

At the beginning of 2018, Xinjiang's first listing of five oil and gas exploration blocks for exploration rights provided an "open, fair and just" platform and opportunity for more powerful companies to enter Xinjiang to participate in energy and mineral resource development.

The liberalization of the upstream sector in the domestic oil and gas industry has always attracted much attention, and it is also regarded as the most difficult sector in the reform of the entire oil and gas industry. Xinjiang's successful transfer of oil and gas blocks this time has given hope to more private enterprises, local state-owned enterprises and other units with development capabilities.

However, the industry has mixed opinions about the transfer, especially about the strength of the enterprise and the quality of the block. In any case, in the future, with the deepening of oil and gas reform, the market will be further liberalized, and it has become a general trend to introduce more social subjects into the upstream of oil and gas.

At the same time as the reform, China ’s oil and gas imports reached another record. Three barrels of oil are continuously increasing their domestic exploration and development efforts with remarkable results.

It is also in the land on the northwestern border of Xinjiang that not only allows people to see the changes brought about by the reform, but also the "100 billion strategic energy sources" has been recognized by the country.

In 2018, good news came from PetroChina. Our oil exploration team found an ultra-large conglomerate oil field in Mahu, Xinjiang, with an area of about 2,800 square kilometers. So far, the proven reserves have reached 1.24 billion tons, while only 42 ultra-large oilfields with recoverable reserves of more than 685 million tons worldwide. What was discovered in Xinjiang this time is a rare super-large oil field. This is another super-large oil field discovered in China after Daqing Oil Field, and it is also the largest conglomerate oil field discovered in the world. According to conservative estimates by experts, the economic value of the Mahu super-large oilfield is as high as several hundred billion yuan, and the "corner basin" has reappeared.

At the end of the year, the Tarim Basin achieved a major exploration breakthrough, adding another treasure to the "treasure bowl". The Mid-Autumn Festival 1 well received a high-yield industrial gas flow. This is a major breakthrough achieved by CNPC's key risk exploration wells deployed on the Qiulitag structural belt in the Kuqa Depression. It indicates that there will be a 100 billion cubic gas condensate reservoir in Mid-Autumn Festival. The oil and gas exploration and overall evaluation of the Tagge structural zone opened a breakthrough and opened a new oil and gas enrichment zone.

Looking at the South China Sea, China ’s first deep-water self-supporting gas field, Lingshui 17-2 gas field, also officially entered the substantive development and construction phase in 2018, which not only proves the rich oil and gas resources potential of the deep sea in the South China Sea, but also basically has deep water oil and gas development in China. The capability also means that China's offshore oil industry has once again achieved a qualitative leap forward, and has basically mastered the overall technology of a set of semi-submersible production platforms with independent intellectual property rights that are suitable for deep-water complex seas, filling a number of domestic technological gaps.

At the expo this year, in order to accelerate China ’s oil and gas exploration and production and increase China ’s oil and gas production, CNOOC and PetroChina invested 40 billion US dollars to purchase advanced equipment and services. Laying the foundation for a more stable position in a complex and changing international situation and a greater say in global energy markets.