The Changqing oil field is an

oil field A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the prese ...

located in

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...

. It was discovered in 1971 and developed by

China National Petroleum Corporation The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) () is a major national oil and gas corporation of China and one of the largest integrated energy groups in the world. Its headquarters are in Dongcheng District, Beijing, Dongcheng District, Beij ...

. It began production in 1975 and produces oil and

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

. The total

proven reserves Proven reserves (also called measured reserves, 1P, and reserves) is a measure of fossil fuel energy reserves, such as oil and gas reserves and coal reserves. It is defined as the "quantity of energy sources estimated with reasonable certaint ...

of the Changqing oil field are around 23.8 billion barrels (3.4 billion tonnes), and production is centered on . Changqing is the largest oil and gas field in China.

History

In 2015, the CNPC announced the discovery of 100 million metric tons of tight oil geological reserves in the Changqing field (733 million barrels of oil). It was the largest discovery of tight oil in the history of China. In 2020, it passed the 60 million ton mark in annual production (24.52 million tons of crude oil output). 50 cities in China rely on this oil field. By 2020, Changqing had also produced a total of 468.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas. In 2013, Changqing had passed the 50 million mark in annual production (23.58 million tons of crude oil).

Controversies

In October 2020, 20 employees were arrested for stealing oil from the field. In March 2021, the chief coordinator and head of production of Changqing oil field placed under investigation for receiving millions of yuan in bribe money.

References

Oil fields in China {{oilfield-stub