The geological conditions at the Shengli Oilfield are akin to a "shattered plate that has been kicked around." After 65 years of development, shallow-layer oil is increasingly scarce. This reality has driven our determination to tackle shale oil at depths exceeding 3,500 meters.
The Jiyang shale oil presents a world-class challenge: deep burial, low thermal maturity, complex fault networks, small pores, and high oil viscosity. Achieving a breakthrough demanded independent innovation, as there were no existing theories or mature technologies to rely on, forcing us to start from scratch.
Our team measured 20,000 meters of core samples and conducted over one hundred thousand tests and analyses. This extensive work led to the creation of the "ternary" storage-permeability theory, which broke the global lower limit for shale oil maturity development. Following this theoretical leap, we focused on technological optimization: the drilling cycle for a 6,000-meter well was slashed from 133 days to a record 17 days, significantly reducing per-well investment.
Today, the Shengli Jiyang National Shale Oil Demonstration Zone has achieved cumulative production of over 2 million tons, with new proven reserves of 327 million tons—equivalent to creating a "new Shengli" oilfield. To firmly hold the energy bowl, fossil fuels form its base, but we must also add "new dishes" to it.
On the Gobi desert in Kuqa, Xinjiang, where no ready-made experience existed, we built the country's first 10,000-ton photovoltaic green hydrogen demonstration project. The principle of photovoltaic hydrogen production is not complex: use solar power to generate electricity, electrolyze water to produce hydrogen, and then transport it via pipeline to refineries, replacing hydrogen traditionally derived from coal and natural gas.
The real challenge lay in balancing the fluctuating output of photovoltaic power with hydrogen production loads. To solve this, our team developed an innovative "load-follows-source" intelligent control technology. It relies on real-time backend computing to match photovoltaic output, enabling stable, low-load operation of the electrolysis units. The green hydrogen is supplied directly to refining units, using zero-carbon hydrogen energy to replace traditional raw materials and reduce carbon emissions from the refining industry.
The path of green hydrogen refining is long and arduous, but the direction is clear. It connects the old and new energy systems, concerns the overall energy security, and is an essential task for low-carbon industrial upgrading. By deepening the incremental potential of old underground oilfields and expanding the new track of green hydrogen on the Gobi, we are using independent innovation to firmly hold the energy bowl in our own hands.