PETROLEUM EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Volume 40, Issue 4, August 2013

Online English edition of the Chinese language journal
Cite this article as: PETROL. EXPLOR. DEVELOP., 2013, 40(4): 439443.

RESEARCH PAPER

Trend and progress in global oil and gas exploration

HU Wenrui1,*, BAO Jingwei 2, HU Bin 3,4
1. CNPC Advisory Centre, Beijing 100724, China;
2. PetroChina Coalbed Methane Co., Ltd, Beijing 100028, China;
3. College of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China;
4. CNPC Planning Department, Beijing 100007, China

Abstract: Major progress achieved in oil and gas exploration in terms of reserves, number of oil and gas fields and discovery of large
oilfields were analyzed, trend and progress of global oil and gas exploration in eight aspects were elaborated, and four enlightenments for
oil and gas exploration in China were proposed. The following aspects have become the shifting trend of oil and gas exploration around
the world: from oil and gas reservoirs to source rocks, from trap to large area reservoir, from structural reservoirs and lithological reservoirs to unconventional continuous reservoirs, from structural highs to low sags and slopes, from conventional hydrocarbon to unconventional hydrocarbon, from middle depth layers to deep and ultra-deep layers, from shallow and middle depth sea to deep and ultra-deep
sea, and from conventional zones to extreme zones. China should put more effort into the research on basic exploration theory and key
techniques, attach more attention to the role of exploration engineering technology, seek the effective way for comprehensive exploration
of oil and gas resources, and strengthen secondary exploration of old oil and gas fields. The major transformation in oil and gas exploration field and strategy will be beneficial to the discovery of more oil and gas fields in China.
Key words: oil and gas exploration; source rock; unconventional hydrocarbon; deep layer; deep-water exploration; extreme zone

The recent decade witnessed major breakthroughs in oil and

gas exploration in China and abroad, which bring the global
newly added remaining recoverable oil and gas reserves to
614.0108 t and 39.91012 m3 respectively from 2001 to 2011
[1]
, in which the new cumulative proved oil and gas reserves in
China amount to 112.2108 t and 5.81012 m3 respectively.
Fifteen oilfields including Jiyuan, Tahe, Penglai 19-3, etc. and
14 gas fields including Sulige, Puguang, Xshen, etc. have
been discovered with proved oil and gas reserves above 1108
t and 1000108 m3 separately [2]. Meanwhile, great changes in
hydrocarbon exploration concepts also have significant challenges to conventional oil and gas exploration concepts.

New achievements in hydrocarbon exploration

Since the 21st century, against the increasing difficulties in

global oil and gas exploration and more and more complicated
targets for exploration, reserves and oil-gas fields discovered
still keep growing. Global remaining recoverable oil and gas
reserves by 2011 amounted to 2 343108 t and 208.41012 m3,
increasing by 35.5% and 23.7% [1] respectively than those in
2001. There were 90 large oil and gas fields (with recoverable
oil and gas reserves above 6 850104 t and 850108 m3 separately) discovered in the world from 2000 to 2008, which are

mainly located in deep water zones at passive continental

margins, carbonate rocks, lithologic-stratigraphic traps, foreland thrust belts, mature oil and gas fields, new provinces and
new basins [3]. In 2010, the global total proved recoverable
reserves discovered in 7 new oil and gas fields reached
31.4108 t oil equivalent (Table 1), about 40.5% of global
newly proved recoverable reserves of the year; while the
number of new fields discovered only accounted for 1.4% of
newcomers in 2010 [4].

2 Progress and trend of global hydrocarbon

exploration
2.1

From reservoirs to sources

Traditionally it was believed that basic elements of hydrocarbon exploration were the assemblages of "source, reservoir,
caprock, trap, migration and preservation", which were the
prerequisites of oil-gas field accumulation, and oil and gas
would migrate for the second time from autochthonous formations (source rocks) to reservoir rocks [5]; autochthonous
formations were source rocks rather than reservoir rocks. But
now source rocks may also act as reservoir rocks. In a sense,
"returning to autochthonous formations to look for oil and
gas" is a revolution in hydrocarbon exploration and exploita-

Received date: 31 May 2013; Revised date: 03 Jun. 2013.

* Corresponding author. E-mail: baojingwei@petrochina.com.cn
Foundation item: Supported by the Key Consulting Program of Chinese Academy of Engineering (Grant No. 2013-XZ-23).
Copyright 2013, Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, PetroChina. Published by Elsevier BV. All rights reserved.

HU Wenrui et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2013, 40(4): 439443

Table 1

Seven large oil-gas field discovered in 2010[4]

Rank

Name

Region

Type

Country

Proved recoverable reserves

(oil equivalent)/108 t

Franco

Santos

Oil and gas

Brazil

8.88

Libra

Santos

Oil

Brazil

7.99

Forooz B3

Rub' Al Khali

Gas

Iran

4.33

Leviathan

Levant

Gas

Israel

3.66

016/02-06
(Avaldsnes)

Utsira uplift

Oil

Norway

2.43

Khayyam1

Zagros

Gas, condensate and oil

Iran

2.08

BardaRash1

Zagros fold belt

Oil

Iraq

2.03

tion and also a challenge to traditional ideas and theories of

hydrocarbon exploration; it has become a direction for the
development of global petroleum industry.
The success in shale gas and tight oil exploration and production in the US has shown that traditional source rocks have
become targets in hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation.
There are more than 30 basins in the US producing shale gas
and pay zones include all formations with source rocks of
marine shale in North American platform [6]. Tight oil produced from autochthonous formations, tight sandstones, tight
carbonate rocks, etc. within or adjacent to source rocks is another hot spot in unconventional oil and gas exploration and
production in the US. In 2012, the tight oil yield in the US
went beyond 7 000104 t and it is anticipated that in 2020 its
production will reach 1.5108 t [7].
Organic-rich marine or continental shale and mudstone occur widely in the Ordos, Sichuan, Tarim, Bohai Bay and
Songliao basins in China with a huge potential of shale gas
and tight oil exploration and development [8]. Shale gas exploration has been carried out in Sichuan, Yunnan, Chongqing,
Hubei, Yan'an in Shaanxi, etc. and two state-level demonstration areas for shale gas development have been constructed;
several wells have tapped high shale gas yield. Since the
1960s, China has discovered tight oil in the Songliao, Bohai
Bay, Qaidam, Tuha, Jiuxi, Jianghan, Nanxiang, Subei and
Sichuan basins and now commercial production of tight oil
has been realized in the Triassic Yanchang Formation in the
Ordos Basin, Permian Lucaogou Formation in the Junggar
Basin, Cretaceous Qingshankou Formation to Quantou Formation in the Songliao Basin, the Middle-Lower Jurassic in
the Sichuan Basin and Paleogene Shahejie Formation in the
Bohai Bay Basin; some breakthroughs have been made in the
application of horizontal wells and some good results can be
seen.
2.2

From local (trap) evaluation to extensive evaluation

Traditional hydrocarbon exploration and evaluation mainly

focus on traps, i.e. the areas with favorable conditions of
"source, reservoir, caprock, trap, migration and preservation."
In recent years, hydrocarbon exploration in China has demonstrated that some discovered and developed low-permeability
gas reservoirs feature no trap structures, no evident oil-gas

contact and pervasive distribution barriered by tight lithologic

belts. At present, we still do not know the exact formation
mechanisms of this kind of lithologic-stratigraphic reservoirs.
However, this kind of resources, very rich in China, widely
occurs in the Ordos, Tarim, Sichuan, Songliao and Tuha basins.
The understandings on pervasive lithologic-stratigraphic
reservoir formation and relevant technical progress have
brought about the discovery of low to ultra-low permeability
reservoirs. There are three large oil provinces of this kind, i.e.
Jiyuan, Huaqing and Songliao, with reserves of 5108-10108
t and two large gas provinces, i.e. Sulige and central Sichuan,
with reserves over 1 000108 m3 discovered in CNPC mining
rights at present, in which the proved gas reserves and basically proved gas reserves in Sulige were 34 943108 m3,
proved oil reserves in Jiyuan were 9.09108 t, the proved oil
reserves in Huaqing were 5.26108 t, the proved oil reserves
in Daqing (lithologic-stratigraphic reservoirs) were nearly
5108 t and the proved gas reserves in Xujiahe Fm. in central
Sichuan were 8 782108 m3 (by the end of 2012).
2.3 From structural and lithologic reservoirs to
continuous unconventional accumulations
Traditional hydrocarbon exploration focuses on searching
structural reservoirs (i.e. conventional reservoirs), which has
extended to lithologic-stratigraphic reservoirs (i.e. subtle reservoirs with low permeabilities) that are separated by
lithologic traps or stagnant zones. And now comes another
leap in hydrocarbon exploration theory, i.e. searching for continuous, unconventional accumulations (which refer to hydrocarbon accumulations in pervasive unconventional reservoir systems[9]). Continuous unconventional accumulations
feature: wide spread in basin centers or slopes with local enrichments; no evident trap boundaries or caprocks; reservoirs
low or extremely low in porosity and permeability or (tight);
no migration or only primary short-distance migration, i.e.
in-source accumulations or near-source accumulations; complicated gas-oil-water contact relationships; and low reserve
abundance [9].
Brown pointed out that the global continuous gas resources
may be 80010124 0001012 m3, 2 to 10 times of conventional gas resources (4361012 m3) [10]. The continuous gas

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yield accounted for a certain percentage of gas output in major

gas production countries; for example, 43% of gas yield in the
US comes from continuous gas resources. The potential of
continuous oil and gas resources in China is also very large.
Continuous oil and gas resources from the Upper Palaeozoic
tight gas in the Ordos Basin, Mesozoic Triassic-Jurassic oil
layers in the Ordos Basin [11], deep Fuyang oil layers in the
Songliao Basin, Xujiahe tight gas in the Sichuan Basin, carbonate oil and gas in the Tarim Basin, volcanic oil and gas in
the Songliao and Junggar Basin, marine shale gas in the Sichuan Basin, etc. are contributing more and more to reserves
and production. Continuous gas yield in China has accounted
for more than 30% of total gas production in China and is still
on the rise [12].
2.4

From structural highs to low-lying areas and slopes

Traditional hydrocarbon exploration theories and methods

look for structural highs first, and then analyze the source-reservoir-seal configuration. At the end of 20th century, Professor Zhao Wenzhi put forward the idea of looking for oil in
low-lying areas and slopes, which is different from the idea of
looking for oil at the structural highs and expands exploration
activities to whole sag [13]. Based on this idea, exploration
activities are extended from those areas limited within secondary structural belts to whole basin with hydrocarbon-rich
sags as centers; targets of interest also transfer from structural
reservoirs to lithologic-stratigraphic reservoirs, which have
become the major resources in reserves increase in the recent
10 years [13].
During exploration of its surrounding basins, the Liaohe
oilfield put forward an concept of looking for oil and gas in
low-lying areas in accordance with the geologic features of
and exploration experience in these basins. Some breakthroughs have been made in the exploration of central sub-sag
belt in the Naiman sag, central sub-sag belt in the Yuanbaoshan sag, Wushijiazimiao subs-sag belt in the Lujiabao sag
and Jiaolige sub-sag with proved oil and gas reserves of
1 822104 t and 3.26108 m3 separately [14].
In recent years, new oil and gas reserves discovered in mature depressions or sags have accounted for 30%40% of new
reserves added in CNPC. Three oil provinces were discovered
with reserves of a hundred million tons: the proved oil reserves in the Qikou sag in the Bohai Bay Basin are over
2.0108 t and some breakthroughs have been made in buried
hill exploration in the Jizhong sag; the proved oil reserves in
Kunbei fault terrace in the Qaidam Basin are over 5 000104 t;
the proved oil reserves at the southwestern margin in the
Junggar Basin are over 2.0108 t.
2.5 From conventional hydrocarbon resources to
unconventional hydrocarbon resources
Unconventional hydrocarbon resources refer to those hydrocarbon resources which have not been fully understood
and there are no proved technologies and experience to recover them on a large scale, including tight oil, tight gas (e.g.

tight sandstone oil and gas, tight volcanic oil and gas, tight
carbonate oil and gas), CBM (coalbed methane), shale oil,
shale gas, super heavy oil (viscous oil), oil sand, gas hydrate,
biogenic gas and dissolved gas and deep basin gas [15]. Global
unconventional hydrocarbon resources are very rich; some
researchers predicted that global unconventional resources are
5 to 8 times of conventional resources [16] based on accumulation theories and some believe that the ratio of conventional to
unconventional is 2:8 based on published statistics of global
conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon resources [17].
Since the 1980s, the US has been successful in developing
tight sand gas, coalbed methane, shale gas and shale oil
through long-term researches and exploration and production
activities. Commercial recoveries of oil sands in Canada and
heavy oil and super heavy oil in Venezuela have promoted the
development of global unconventional accumulations. China
is also rich in unconventional hydrocarbon resources. The
unconventional gas resources are estimated by the Chinese
Academy of Engineering at 341012 m3, 1.8 times of conventional technically recoverable gas resources [18] and the tight
oil resources in 9 basins are preliminarily estimated at
113108135108 t [19] with a large potential of exploration
and production.
2.6 From medium and deep zones to deep and ultra-deep
zones
Shallow oil and even oil coming to the surface (known as
oil seepage) were explored and produced at first. With the
progress of exploration and production, the target zones become deeper and deeper. At present pay zones mainly concentrate in middle and deep intervals. With the progress in
theoretical researches and technologies, more and more attention has been paid to hydrocarbon resources (including unconventional resources) in deep and ultra-deep zones in exploration [2021].
There are more and more oil-gas fields and reserves discovered in deep and ultra-deep zones in recent years. According to HIS, there were 156 reservoirs deeper than 6 000 m
discovered in the world from 1972 to 2008, among which 105
reservoirs were discovered from 2000 to 2008, accounting for
66.5% of the total discoveries [22]. In 2012, new proved oil and
gas reserves discovered in deep and ultra-deep zones (deeper
than 4 500 m) in China accounted for 15% and 37% of total
new proved oil and gas reserves separately [1].
Table 2

Hydrocarbon types vs. depth [2021]

Depth/m

Type

Onshore oil
and gas

Offshore oil
and gas

CBM

Shallow

<2 000

<300

<400

Middle

2 0004 500

300500

400800

Deep

4 5006 000

5001 500

8001 200

Ultra-deep

6 0009 000

>1 500

1 2002 000

Extremely ultra-deep

441

>9 000

>2 000

HU Wenrui et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2013, 40(4): 439443

Onshore oil and gas wells in China tend to be deeper and

deeper year by year and the average depth of gas wells has
been close to deep zones. Exploratory wells in West China are
relatively deep, and on average exploratory wells have been
drilled and completed in deep zones. In 2008, the average
depth of exploratory wells in Tarim reached 6 222 m and the
Tarim oilfield has then become the field with the maximum
exploration depth onshore China. Well Keshen7, the deepest
well, was drilled and completed at the depth 8 023 m, exceeding the depth limit of 8 000 m. In East China, exploratory
wells tend to be completed deeper and deeper. Well Niudong1
finished in April 2011 in the Huabei oilfield was completed at
the depth 6 027 m, breaking the limit of 6 000 m in East
China. The average vertical depth of wells drilled in the
Yuanba gas field in Sichuan reached 6 900 m, making this
field the deepest marine gas field in China at present.
2.7 From shallow and medium sea to abyssal and
ultra-abyssal sea
By the end of January 1, 2006, the global proved oil and
gas reserves were 1 757108 t and 1731012 m3 separately.
The Global offshore oil resources were 1 350108 t and the
proved reserves at the beginning of 2006 reached 380108 t.
The global offshore gas resources are 1401012 m3 and the
proved reserves at the beginning of 2006 reached 401012 m3.
In the recent decade, 60% of large oil-gas fields with reserves
over 1108 t are offshore fields, half of which are in abyssal
sea areas with water depth above 500 m [23]. Hydrocarbon
exploration has extended into abyssal sea and ultra-abyssal
sea areas, including the East Sea area in Brazil, Gulf of Mexico, Angola-Niger sea area in West Africa, northwestern sea
area in Australia and South China Sea area.
Offshore exploration and exploitation in China has been
going deeper and deeper from 20 m and 50 m to 100 m since
1982. Exploration areas have also extended from the Bohai
Sea at the beginning to the East China Sea and the South
China Sea at present. By the end of 2011, the maximum water
depth in offshore drilling reached 505 m and the maximum
depth of developed offshore oil-gas fields reached 333 m
(Liuhua gas field). Offshore hydrocarbon exploration is shifting from shallow and medium seas to abyssal and ultra-abyssal seas. In 2012, the "CNOOC 981" drilling platform
was put into production, which makes it possible to drill wells
in ultra-abyssal sea below 3 000 m in China [24]. By the end of
2012, China had completed deep water drilling of three exploratory wells independently [25]. In the next decade, China
will develop hydrocarbon resources in territorial sea areas,
which mainly focuses on abyssal sea and ultra-abyssal sea
areas deeper than 500 m.
2.8 From conventional terrains to terrains with extreme
conditions
Hydrocarbon exploration in the past mainly concentrated in
conventional terrains, like plains, mountainous regions, shallow seas, plateaus, and desert margins, etc. with relatively

good surface conditions. With the increasing demand on oil

and gas in recent years, hydrocarbon exploration has extended
into terrains with extreme conditions such as swamps, (north)
polar region, tundra, pristine forests, deep desert, etc.
According to evaluation report issued by USGS in 2008,
total oil and gas resources in the arctic area amount to
562.21108 t oil equivalent, that is about 22% of total undeveloped oil and gas resources in the world [26]. The oil reserves
in the Sahara Desert reach 44108 t and the global hydrate
resources in tundra estimated by Sloan [27] and Collett [28] are
10101210 0001012 m3 with a large potential.
Some countries including the US, Brazil, Russia, Canada
and China have started hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation in terrains with extreme conditions. By the end of 2009,
there were about 61 large oil and gas fields discovered by the
US, Canada, Norway, etc. in the Arctic Circle, among which
15 fields have not been put into production yet [26]. Libya,
Algeria and some other countries in the Sahara Desert have
already become significant oil producing countries. China has
built up the Tazhong oilfield in the hinterland of the Tarim
Desert.

3 Enlightenment to hydrocarbon exploration in

China
Since the 21st century, sustained and rapid economic development in China has strained oil and gas supply. We should
pay attention to those new trends and new ideas in hydrocarbon exploration and properly adjust hydrocarbon exploration
strategies to discover more oil-gas fields and guarantee energy
security in China.
(1) Put more effort into theoretical and technical researches
on hydrocarbon exploration, especially in basic theories and
key technologies. Petroleum industry in China has come into
being for half a century, but when Well Wei5 blew out from
Cambrian Qiongzhusi shale section in the Sichuan Basin in
1966, no one realized it came from mudstone and shale section, let alone the discovery of shale gas. Before 2000, it never
came to us that source rocks may act as reservoir rocks due to
theories and technologies lagged behind. On the contrary, the
rapid development of unconventional oil and gas including
shale gas and shale oil in the US is the result of long-lasting
theoretical and technical researches, the development of basic
theories on continuous hydrocarbon accumulations in reservoir systems with nano-pore throats and technical innovations
including horizontal well drilling and volumetric fracturing.
(2) Pay more attention to exploration engineering and
technologies. As the exploration objects are becoming increasingly complex, hydrocarbon discoveries in deep and
low-grade reservoirs and reservoirs in terrains with extreme
conditions depend more and more on exploration technologies,
including geophysical technologies, drilling and completion
technologies, well test technologies and fracturing technologies. The progress in engineering and technologies can not
only improve exploration success rate, but also extend exploration domain and open up the thinking of explorationists.

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(3) Explore effective ways of comprehensive hydrocarbon

exploration. In most petroliferous basins with multi-cycle in
China, conventional and unconventional oil and gas coexist in
multi-series and multi-types; the way of exploration focusing
on single major measures and premium reservoirs cant meet
the requirement of high efficient exploration, way of comprehensive exploration focusing on both oil and gas, rich and
lean reservoirs, hydrocarbon discoveries and researches, and
integrated exploration and development should be attempted.
(4) Strengthen secondary exploration in mature oil-gas
fields. Mature oil and gas fields still have some potential because the understanding, theories and technologies were
lagged behind when these fields were discovered. So if the
advanced theories and technologies are used to review and
explore them again, it is very likely to find new reserves in
layers above and below those major pay zones in old oilfields.

[9]

[10]
[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

Concluding remarks

Global hydrocarbon resources are very rich and exploration

activities are extending into more challenging areas with
smaller scale, larger depth and wider scope, which include
source rocks, continuous hydrocarbon accumulations in pervasive reservoirs, low-lying areas and slopes, unconventional
resources, deep to ultra-deep zones, abyssal sea and ultra-abyssal sea and terrains with extreme conditions. The major change in exploration domains and strategies will give
birth to more discoveries of hydrocarbon resources both in
new prospects and mature fields.

[15]

[16]

[17]

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