Natural gas capacity sees surge

Major oilfields nationwide including Daqing, Changqing report higher production

China is seeing a vast natural gas field with an annual gas production capacity exceeding 50 billion cubic meters, which will further ensure domestic energy security while facilitating the country's low-carbon energy transition, said industry experts.

Changqing oilfield, China's largest oil and gas field that supplies natural gas to more than 40 major cities including Beijing and Tianjin, saw its annual natural gas production capacity exceed 50.06 bcm by Tuesday, said its operator China National Petroleum Corp, China's largest oil and gas producer.

The oilfield, located in Northwest China's Ordos basin, has kicked into high gear this year to meet the heating demand of households, ensuring residents warm home temperatures in the winter. A total of 2,338 gas fields in the oilfield were put into operation this year with newly added daily gas production reaching 31 million cubic meters, it said.

The oilfield has produced natural gas of more than 555 bcm so far, equivalent to the reduction of 720 million tons of standard coal and 1.96 billion tons of emissions including carbon dioxide, said the company.

Besides the Changqing oilfield, other key energy suppliers in the northern regions, such as the Daqing oilfield in Heilongjiang province and the Tarim oilfield in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, are also stepping up production and supplies.

China National Petroleum Corp's oil and gas production equivalent has hit a record high in 2022, a result of its consistent efforts in oil and gas exploration and development in recent years, the company said earlier.

The company said its crude production has witnessed steady growth this year while natural gas production has also gained momentum, accounting for 52.4 percent of its oil and gas production in 2022.

In addition to CNPC, China's energy companies, including State-owned offshore oil and gas producer China National Offshore Oil Corp and China Petrochemical Corp, the world's largest refiner by volume, are maximizing domestic gas production to ensure sufficient supplies for the spike in demand during the winter heating season.

Against the backdrop of the global energy crisis and market turmoil, it is important for domestic oil and gas companies to step up efforts in upstream exploitation and exploration to further tap domestic gas potential and ensure gas supply security for the ongoing winter, said Li Ziyue, an analyst with BloombergNEF.

She believes domestic gas output will play an even more important role next year as gas imports become increasingly more uncertain and volatile amid European gas shortages.

BloombergNEF expects China's gas production during the heating season to record annual growth above 5 percent, reaching around 100 bcm.