China: Old oil in marine facies provide energy

Geologic formations known as marine facies contain not only the fossils of mollusks and fish locked deep within, but often oil and gas as well, potentially in enormous amounts.

Formed in primeval oceans, ancient marine basins could yield major oil and gas reserves for Asia’s top refiner Sinopec and the entire nation, say senior geologists who are preparing research and exploration efforts to find out more.
China’s second-largest oil and gas producer China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, known as Sinopec, will fund extensive research and development to lay a solid technical foundation for exploration of the formations, say sources from a think tank affiliated with Sinopec.

“Marine facies contribute to the bulk of global oil and gas discoveries, but that is not the case in China due to historical reasons,” Kang Yuzhu, a senior researcher with the Sinopec Exploration and Production Research Institute, tells China Business Weekly exclusively.

“That is why we have to make more effort in fundamental research.”

Resources held in marine facies structures in China could total some 37 billion tons of oil equivalent, about one-third of the nation’s total, according to Sinopec research.

The research may require five to 10 years.

Rednet