Strategic replacement situation and outlook of China oil-gas production area

Sustainable development of petroleum industry depends on tactic and strategic replacement of production, in which the exploitation of new oil and gas production areas has a profound and lasting significance. After first and second strategic development, the existing oil and gas areas in China have been in a relatively stable and mature stage of their life cycles, there is an urgent need to start a new strategic replacement of oil and gas to guarantee stable and increasing production for China in the long term. Through production and research sponsored by government in the beginning of the 21 century, the targets of new oil and gas areas have been initially identified. They include: (1) the Upper Paleozoic of north China, especially the Carboniferous and Permian underlying the Mesozoic and Cenozoic; (2) Qiangtang block which features in Paleozoic and Mesozoic marine strata, and Cenozoic rift system which has simple petroleum accumulation conditions in Tibetan plateau; (3) Mesozoic marine strata covered by the Cenozoic in the south sea and east sea of China; (4) unconventional hydrocarbons, especially tight oil and gas, shale gas, shale oil and coalbed gas.