On the early morning of winter, Aunt Zhang in Beijing turns on the gas stove, and a blue flame leaps up suddenly. The Chinese cabbage and tofu in the pot soon start to steam. What she doesn't know is that behind this cluster of warm flames is an "energy defense war" spanning a thousand meters underground. Chinese petroleum workers use the "hard technologies" they independently developed to extract oil and gas from deep strata that were once considered "unexploitable", and create "Chinese cores" in the equipment fields monopolized by foreign countries, giving every family's cooking stove, the boilers in factories, and the urban pipe networks a more stable "energy confidence". Once upon a time, "shortage of oil and gas" was a label engraved on China's energy map. Around 2010, China's external dependence on crude oil exceeded the 50% warning line, and the imported volume of natural gas increased year by year. The slightest change in the international energy market could affect the domestic supply. But now, the situation has changed. In 2023, China's crude oil production stabilized at over 200 million tons, and the natural gas production exceeded 230 billion cubic meters, with seven consecutive years of increase. More importantly, from ultra-deep oil and gas exploration to shale gas fracturing, from large-tonnage drilling rigs to intelligent oil production systems, the "hard technology" matrix of Chinese petroleum is rising at a visible speed, casting a "technology shield" for firmly holding the energy bowl.
01 Why must it rely on itself for the once "insoluble problem"? To understand the rise of Chinese petroleum's "hard technologies", we have to go back to those "neck-sticking" days first. The "innate conditions" of China's oil and gas resources once made the world energy community shake their heads. Different from the "oil seas" and "gas fields" in the Middle East and Russia, China's oil and gas resources show the characteristics of "more of three and less of three": less conventional oil and gas, more unconventional oil and gas; less medium and shallow oil and gas, more deep and ultra-deep oil and gas; mainly continental sedimentation, less high-quality reservoirs. In other words, the underground oil and gas reservoirs are like "crumpled paper balls", hidden in the "geological maze" thousands or even tens of thousands of meters deep, and the exploitation difficulty is comparable to "fishing for a needle in the ocean". What's more urgent is the "uncertainty" of the international environment. At the beginning of this century, international oil prices had been hovering at a low level for a long time, and some domestic oil and gas fields were forced to shut down due to high costs and poor efficiency. When the international situation was turbulent and oil prices soared, there was also the dilemma of "unable to afford and transport back". In 2014, a coastal refining enterprise suffered a monthly loss of over 1 billion yuan due to the skyrocketing price of imported crude oil. In the European energy crisis in 2022, the scene of the natural gas price soaring by 10 times was even more heart-wrenching. If China doesn't have an independent and controllable oil and gas supply capacity, similar risks may happen at any time. "The key core technologies cannot be begged, bought, or讨来 (this word doesn't seem to fit the context well, perhaps it should be 'begged'?)." The consensus of Chinese petroleum workers has given rise to a scientific and technological breakthrough of "getting oil and gas from underground". From ultra-deep drilling to shale gas development, from enhanced oil recovery technology to intelligent equipment manufacturing, every step has been difficult but firm. Just as an old petroleum engineer said: "Previously, it was 'having resources but no technology', now it is 'having technology to have resources' - we must hold the 'bowl' firmly in our own hands with our own hands."
02 From "unable to penetrate" to "able to hit accurately", how does hard technology break the situation? The rise of Chinese petroleum's "hard technologies" is not an accidental "overtaking on a curve", but a "precise attack" on the "neck-sticking" problems. Exploration is the "first step" of oil and gas development and also the most difficult one. Deep oil and gas reservoirs are hidden in rock formations thousands or even tens of thousands of meters underground. Traditional seismic exploration technology is like "looking at the scenery through frosted glass", with low resolution and difficult to identify tiny structures, resulting in "drilling ten wells, nine are empty". To solve this problem, the R & D team of Chinese petroleum dived into the laboratory and repeatedly simulated with millions of sets of seismic wave data. Finally, they developed the "high-precision seismic imaging technology". This technology is equivalent to installing a "CT machine" underground. By intelligently analyzing the reflection signals of seismic waves, it can see the geological structure 5000 meters or even 8000 meters underground, with an error of no more than 10 meters. In the Tarim Basin, this technology made the previously "invisible" ultra-deep oil and gas reservoirs "appear", discovering oil and gas fields such as the Shunbei Oilfield with reserves of over 100 million tons, equivalent to adding a medium-sized oilfield. After finding the oil and gas reservoirs, they also need to be "dug out". Although China has a large amount of unconventional oil and gas resources such as shale gas and tight gas, the reservoirs are like "broken biscuits in stone cracks" - with small pores and low permeability, and traditional technologies simply can't "squeeze" out the oil and gas. To pry open these "stone cracks", Chinese petroleum independently developed the "volumetric fracturing technology": using a high-pressure pump to inject hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of water and sand mixture into the ground, pressing the rock to form countless artificial cracks like "breaking walnuts", allowing the oil and gas to "run" out along the cracks. In the Changning Shale Gas Field in Sichuan, this technology increased the single-well production from the initial 100,000 cubic meters per day to 300,000 cubic meters per day, while the single-well cost dropped from 100 million yuan to 60 million yuan, completely activating the "sleeping" unconventional gas reservoirs. After the oil and gas are extracted, how to manage them efficiently? In the past, the oilfields relied on "manual labor", and dozens of people were needed to guard a single well, not only with low efficiency but also prone to losses due to human negligence. To make the oilfields "speak for themselves", Chinese petroleum built the "intelligent oilfield" system: thousands of sensors distributed in the well sites collect pressure, temperature, and flow data in real time; the AI algorithm is like a "doctor for the oilfield", able to predict equipment failures 72 hours in advance; unmanned inspection robots replace manual labor to climb up and down, and even the valve switches at the wellhead can be remotely controlled. In the Karamay Oilfield in Xinjiang, the intelligent system reduced the comprehensive energy consumption of the oilfield by 15% and increased the recovery rate by 5%. A team of a hundred people can manage an oilfield that used to require thousands of people. The breakthrough of these technologies not only makes the "difficult-to-exploit oil and gas" become "exploitable and economical", but also gives Chinese petroleum the "right to speak" in the global oil and gas exploration and development field. For example, the ultra-deep drilling technology makes China one of the few countries in the world that can drill wells over 8000 meters deep; the shale gas fracturing equipment breaks the foreign monopoly, and the price is only 1/3 of the imported equipment; the intelligent oilfield system is exported to Central Asia and the Middle East, becoming a "new business card" of Chinese high-end equipment.
03 From "holding the bowl steadily" to "holding the bowl well", how does hard technology empower the future? Today, Chinese petroleum's "hard technologies" have long exceeded the scope of "finding and extracting oil", and have become the "twin engines" for ensuring national energy security and promoting green transformation. It makes energy security more "resilient". In 2022, the international geopolitical conflict led to a skyrocketing of global energy prices, but the domestic oil and gas supply remained stable. The crude oil production stabilized at 200 million tons, and the natural gas production increased by 6.5% year-on-year. This "stability" is behind the continuous increase in ultra-deep oil and gas fields, the full-load production of shale gas fields, and the efficient operation of intelligent oilfields. As industry insiders said: "Previously, we were afraid of import cut-offs, now we are afraid of not being able to produce domestically. Now our production capacity has sufficient 'elasticity'. Even if imports decrease by 10%, we can make up for it with domestic increments." It makes the green transformation more "confident". The oil and gas industry used to be a synonym for "high carbon", but Chinese petroleum's "hard technologies" are rewriting this label. For example, CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage) technology makes the carbon dioxide captured during oilfield exploitation "turn waste into treasure" - injecting it underground for storage or using it to enhance oil recovery; natural gas distributed energy technology makes oil and gas "hold hands" with new energy - the electricity generated by wind power and photovoltaic power in oilfields directly drives natural gas generators, reducing carbon emissions; biogas technology makes agricultural and forestry waste "turn into energy", opening up a new "green gas source". These technologies are gradually turning the oil and gas industry from a "big carbon emitter" to a "pioneer in carbon neutrality". It makes the global energy governance have more "Chinese solutions". Chinese petroleum's "hard technologies" are becoming the "passport" for participating in global energy cooperation. Along the "Belt and Road", China's ultra-deep drilling technology has helped Kazakhstan develop difficult-to-exploit oil and gas fields; the intelligent oilfield system has been applied to the Sudanese oilfield, rejuvenating the old oilfield; the shale gas fracturing equipment has been exported to Argentina, helping local energy independence. More importantly, Chinese petroleum promotes the global oil and gas industry to develop in a more efficient and green direction through the output of "technology + standards".
The "scientific and technological light" a thousand meters underground illuminates the "energy path" of the future Standing on the drilling platform in the Tarim Basin, watching the rotating drill bit advancing towards the 8000-meter depth underground, the "Chinese Petroleum" logo on the drill tower is particularly eye-catching in the sun. Every drop of crude oil and every cubic meter of natural gas here are the crystallization of Chinese petroleum's "hard technologies"; every technological breakthrough is adding bricks to the country's energy security. From "shortage of oil and gas" to "independent and controllable", from "following and catching up" to "running side by side and leading", the rise of Chinese petroleum's "hard technologies" is not only a technological leap but also a profound interpretation of a country's "energy security" - true energy security is not the "external guarantee" of relying on imports, but the "internal ability" of mastering core technologies; not the "emergency measure" of passive response, but the "long-term layout" of active innovation. On the future road, there may be more complex geological structures waiting to be cracked and more severe international competition to be faced, but Chinese petroleum's "hard technology" matrix has already cast the firmest shield for firmly holding the energy bowl. Just as the oil and gas reservoirs deep underground were formed after hundreds of millions of years of geological movement; Chinese petroleum's "hard technologies" have also grown into a "giant tree" guarding national energy security in the relay struggle of generations of petroleum workers. The roots of this tree are embedded in the oil and gas reservoirs a thousand meters underground; the leaves of this tree are stretching towards the future of green energy.