Present Status and Development Prospects of Sinopec Shale Oil Engineering Technologies

Depending on the characteristics and the demands of exploration and development of continental shale oil reservoirs, Sinopec has carried out researches on technologies for such reservoirs, including optimized and fast drilling and completion, logging evaluation, and reservoir stimulation, etc. These new technologies, which have been successfully applied to 17 exploratory wells, strongly support the exploration and development evaluation of continental shale oil in a number of regions, such as Jiyang Depression, Biyang Sag, and Sichuan Basin,etc. And with them, a major breakthrough was achieved in the exploration of shale oil in Jiyang Depression. However, the shale oil engineering technologies of Sinopec still lag behind those of some foreign countries. Therefore, further research is still needed in technologies of multi-layer stereoscopic development by shale oil well factory, drilling of horizontal wells with ultra-long horizontal sections, and integration of shale oil geology and hydraulic fracturing. Sinopec’s research could thereby strive toward the perfection of the shale oil engineering technology system, the improvements in quality, speed, efficiency, and output, and the beneficial development of continental shale oil.