China Reports 26 Million Metric Tons of Ultra-Deep Oil and Gas Output

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has produced more than 26 million metric tons of combined oil and gas from ultra-deep reservoirs at the Hade-Fuman oilfield, highlighting China’s continued development of deep energy resources.

The output was recorded as of Oct. 5, 2026, from reservoirs deeper than 6,000 meters beneath the Taklimakan Desert. The figure combines oil and gas production and does not provide separate totals for crude oil and natural gas.

CNPC’s Tarim Oilfield has drilled 485 wells at Hade-Fuman. The Tarim Basin contains more than 50 billion metric tons of proven oil and gas reserves, with more than half coming from ultra-deep formations.

A core sample recovered from the Zhentan-1 well came from a depth of 8,080 meters. The recovered rock was described as approximately 500 million years old.

China’s ultra-deep development is also extending into shale gas. Sinopec’s Ziyang Dongfeng shale-gas field in Sichuan province received approval for 235.687 billion cubic meters of proven geological reserves from the Ministry of Natural Resources.

The field extends exploration and development beyond 4,500 meters and is China’s first ultra-deep shale-gas field with reserves at the 100-billion-cubic-meter level.