World Energy Outlook 2007

Oil Supply
Oil Resources and Reserves
China’s proven reserves of oil amounted to 16 billion barrels at the end of
2006, equal to 1.2% of world reserves. 1 Ultimately recoverable resources from
discovered fields are estimated at 57.3 billion barrels. 2 We estimate that the
volume of oil yet to be produced is close to 29 billion barrels (Table 10.1), to
which production from reserves growth and from fields yet to be discovered
will be added. The reserves are mainly located in five sedimentary basins: Bohai
Gulf (35%), Songliao (22%), Tarim (12%), Junggar (11%) and Ordos (6%).
Almost all the reserves are located onshore; only the Bohai Gulf basin is partly
offshore (Figure 10.1). The Daqing field in the Songliao basin is by far the
biggest in China. It still holds 14% of China’s remaining proven and probable
reserves, even though it has been producing since 1960. Most other big fields
are also mature, having been discovered in the 1960s and 1970s.
Table 10.1: China’s Oil Reserves as of end-2005
Onshore Offshore On/offshore Total
Number of fields 724 191 19 934
Proven and probable
reserves (Mb) 23 911 4 356 1 168 29 435
Cumulative production
to date (Mb) 25 523 1 635 732 27 890
Sources: IHS Energy databases; IEA estimates.
Between 1997 and 2006, 230 oilfields were discovered, adding 7.1 billion
barrels to proven and probable reserves (Figure 10.2). While the number of new
fields is about a third of all previous discoveries, the volume of oil was only
14% of that discovered before 1997. Three-quarters of the oil discovered since
1997 is concentrated in three basins: Bohai Gulf, Junggar and Tarim. The
biggest find was the Jidong Nanpu in the offshore Bohai Gulf by PetroChina,
reported in 2007, with reserves of 2 800 million barrels – the biggest find in
40 years and the largest offshore discovery ever in China. The most recent
study by the US Geological Survey estimated undiscovered resources in 1996
at 16.5 billion barrels (USGS, 2000). Some 9 billion barrels, including
discoveries in 1995 and 1996, have been discovered since then, with the
possible implication that less than half of that potential remains to be found.
1. Oil and Gas Journal, 18 December 2006.
2. Based on data provided to the IEA by IHS Energy.
318 World Energy Outlook 2007 - CHINA’S ENERGY PROSPECTS