China' natural gas production hit a record high in 2023, as the country pushed its upstream exploration and production companies to increase efforts in oil and gas production so as to enhance energy security.
Domestic natural gas production reached 229.7 billion cubic meters in 2023, an increase of 5.8% from the prior year, maintaining an annual increase of 10 billion cubic meters for seven consecutive years, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.
2019-2023 China Natural Gas Production
Source: NBS, OilChem
Separately, PetroChina's Changqing Oilfield, Southwest Oil and Gas Field and Tarim Oilfield were the top three areas contributing the most natural gas production and increment. The combined oil and gas production of Changqing Oilfield reached 60.1 million tonnes of oil equivalent by November 30, 2023, including 45.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas, and is expected to have exceeded 66 million tonnes of oil equivalent in 2023. Southwest Oil and Gas Field's natural gas production stood at 42 billion cubic meters, an increase of 9.6% year-on-year. The Tarim Oilfield produced 7.55 million tonnes of petroleum liquids and 32.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas, and Daqing Oilfield produced 5.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas, achieving a stable growth for 13 consecutive years.
Sinopec supplied over 45 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2023. The natural gas production and sales of Southwest Petroleum Bureau increased by 9.5% compared to the previous year, setting a new historical high. Shengli Oilfield produced a total of 860 million cubic meters of natural gas in 2023. Fuling Shale Gas Field put 95 new wells into production, lifting gas production by 405 million cubic meters, 156 million cubic meters beyond the plan.
CNOOC's offshore natural gas production increased more than 100 million cubic meters in 2023. The Bohai Oilfield is expected to produce over 34 million tonnes of crude oil and over 3.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas. The oil and gas production of the Eastern South China Sea exceeded 20 million tonnes of oil equivalent to reach a new high, and that of the Western South China Sea reached more than 12.7 million tonnes.
Written by Sunny Fang, fss@oilchem.net
Edited by Aggie Hu, huchenying@mysteel.com
