China - July 4, 2024

Storyline:
China's largest production base of thick oil goes green

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Stretching from Liaoning Province to Inner Mongolia and covering twelve cities, the Liaohe Oilfield in Northeast China has long been a key energy base driving the nation’s industrialization.

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Guo Tianqi, Reporter:

"Liaohe Oilfield is China's largest production base of thick oil and high condensation oil, which means most of the oil is solid below 40 degrees Celsius and needs to be extracted by injecting large amounts of steam. But right now they've invented a greener way to mine it."

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Introducing the molten salt storage system… By converting green electricity into heat and storing it in molten salt, the plant is able to produce steam that’s injected into the ground.

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Wang Yantao, Vice President, Liaohe Oilfield Design Institute:

"The traditional way of producing steam is to use natural gas, which consumes about 1-point-4-billion cubic meters of natural gas every year and emits 3-million tons of carbon dioxide. The current situation of high carbon emissions from thick oil exploitation needs to be addressed."

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One molten salt storage station can supply three oil wells through an injection of steam… producing nearly 150-tons of crude oil per day.

The potential of Liaohe Oilfield has now attracted oil giant Saudi Aramco, which plans to invest over 83-billion U.S. dollars to build China's biggest single integrated refinery and chemical plant.

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Zhang Hongli, Party Secretary, Huajin Aramco Petrochemical Company:

"Every drop of crude oil here will be converted into chemical products, and it will be a garden-style factory. Future waste liquids and solids will be processed into products, and sewage will meet the standards for direct discharge into the sea."

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Petrochemicals are a traditional industry in Northeast China, and have faced certain developmental bottlenecks. But experts believe that with improved processes and equipment, traditional industries could make a leap forward while saving energy and reducing emissions.

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