PetroChina â Xinjiang made an important breakthrough in the Junggar Basin. Chetan 1, a NFW, tested commercial oil flow in the Carboniferous Tailegula Formation on 22 October 2019.   The well was drilled in the Chepaizi High in the west margin of the basin. There are several oil fields found in this area, such as Chepaizi, Chunguang and Chunfeng fields, which has main reservoir in the Tertiary, Jurassic and Permian. A few wells penetrated Carboniferous reservoir, but no commercial oil has been achieved. Chetan 1 is the first well which makes a breakthrough in the Carboniferous and it indicates a significant potential prospective for carboniferous play in this area.   The Junggar Basin is one of the key exploration and production base for PetroChina. The company has approved more than 25 oil and gas fields by 2018 with total of 22 bn bbls of oil and 6 Tcf of gas in place reserves. In 2018 PetroChina produced 11.47 million tons of oil (229,000 b/d) and 2.9 Bcm of gas (290 MMcf/d). The company plans to increase oil production to 248,000 b/d in 2019 and 260,000 b/d by 2020.  Background Information  Several exploration successes have been achieved recently in the Junggar Basin.   In June 2019, PetroChina made an important breakthrough at Qianshao 2, which tested 7.18 MMcf/d of gas plus 280 b/d of condensate from the Jurassic Sangonghe Formation. The well was drilled in the northeast slope of the Shawan Sag. There are several small-medium size oil and gas fields found on local structure highs in this area, such as Mosuowan gas field, Mobei and Shixi oil and gas fields, which has main reservoir in the Sangonghe Formation. Qianshao 2 is the first well which makes a breakthrough down to slope area and it indicates a significant potential prospective for gas exploration.   In January 2019, PetroChina has made a significant discovery at Gaotan 1 in the south margin of the basin, and the well tested 7,630 b/d of oil and 11 MMcf/d of gas in the Cretaceous Qingshuihe Formation. The south margin of the Junggar Basin, geologically, has developed a 400 km long thrusting structure belt. Several wells have been drilled in this area with oil tested from the Cretaceous and Tertiary clastic rock, such as Xihu 1, Dushan 1 and Dafeng 1, but without commercial value. Gaotan 1 is believed to achieved commercial oil and gas flow from the deeper formations.  In December 2018, PetroChina made an oil discovery in Shatan 1. The well tested 190 b/d of oil from 5,344 to 5,375 m in the Permian Wuerhe Formation. Shatan 1 is drilled in the northwest Shawan Sag. The well also encountered good oil shows in other formations during drilling, such as Triassic Baikouquan and Karamay formations. The success of the well indicated a new exploration potential prospective area for the Wuerhe play fairway.
PetroChina â Xinjiang made an important breakthrough in the Junggar Basin. Chetan 1, a NFW, tested commercial oil flow in the Carboniferous Tailegula Formation