Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwest China - May 2, 2023 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Aerial shot of oil, gas field; facilities
2. Technician operating test device
3. Various of test in progress
4. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Huang Cheng, senior engineer, Sinopec Petroleum Exploration and Production Research Institute in Northwest:
"Shunbei No. 10 inclined shaft is the first key wildcat well in the No. 10 fault zone. This breakthrough proves the central area of the Shunbei oilfield has a whole piece of oil and gas reserve."
5. Aerial shots of oil, gas field; facilities
6. Drilling equipment
7. Employee operating equipment
8. Aerial shot of oil, gas field; facilities
9. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Cao Zicheng, deputy chief geologist, Sinopec Northwest Oilfield Company:
"We invented such techniques as stereo imaging of ultra-deep reserves and fine carving of fracture-cave bodies, which, similar to a CT scan of the deep part of the Earth, can improve our precision from 30 meters to 15 meters. Currently, these techniques have been applied to more than 100 wells, which form a production base with a capacity of more than 2 million tons."
10. Animation about innovative techniques
11. Aerial shots of oil, gas field; facilities
12. Various of Sinopec employees discussing, working in office

Beijing, China - May 2, 2023 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
13. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Hao Fang, academician, Chinese Academy of Sciences (starting with shot 12, ending with shot 14):
"China's remaining resources in middle-shallow layers are gradually reducing, and more than one third of the country's oil and gas resources are in deep layers. In recent years, the new oilfields in China and the world are mainly discovered in the deep layer. The major breakthrough in 'Deep Earth' exploration is going to boost the development of relevant industries, including high-end manufacturing, advanced materials and core software."

FILE: China - Exact Location and Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
14. Aerial shots of oilfield, electricity pylons
15. Various of researchers working
16. Automatic machinery operating
17. Various of screens showing software usage data
18. Aerial shot of employees on drilling rig
19. Aerial shot of fire in oilfield
20. Various of technicians operating drilling equipment
21. Various of oilfield facilities

An ultra-deep well in the Shendi No.1 Shunbei Oil and Gas Field Base in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region was tested to have a high-yield oil and gas flow on Tuesday, marking a new breakthrough of the base in reserve exploration.

The inclined shaft, named Shunbei No. 10, is 8,591 meters deep. Its drilling started on Nov. 5 last year and has been completed. Tuesday's test showed the well has a daily yield of more than 600,000 cubic meters of natural gas.

"Shunbei No. 10 inclined shaft is the first key wildcat well in the No. 10 fault zone. This breakthrough proves the central area of the Shunbei oilfield has a whole piece of oil and gas reserve," said Huang Cheng, a senior engineer of the Sinopec Petroleum Exploration and Production Research Institute in Northwest.

Shunbei No. 10 is located in the Taklamakan Desert in Xayar County of Xinjiang's Aksu Prefecture. Across the desert, 120 wells have been drilled at depths of over 8,000 meters, with each tasked with the mission under the Shendi (Deep Earth) project to drill for oil and gas buried around thousands of meters beneath the desert.

"We invented such techniques as stereo imaging of ultra-deep reserves and fine carving of fracture-cave bodies, which, similar to a CT scan of the deep part of the Earth, can improve our precision from 30 meters to 15 meters. Currently, these techniques have been applied to more than 100 wells, which form a production base with a capacity of more than 2 million tons," said Cao Zicheng, deputy chief geologist of Sinopec Northwest Oilfield Company.

In the past few years, China has been stepping up exploration of deep and ultra-deep onshore oil and gas reserves, drilling more than 200 ultra-deep wells every year and continuing to rewrite the Asian record of well depth.

Up to now, China has discovered 352 oil and gas fields at the depth of over 4,500 meters, which are mainly located in the Tarim Basin and the Sichuan Basin.

"China's remaining resources in middle-shallow layers are gradually reducing, and more than one third of the country's oil and gas resources are in deep layers. In recent years, the new oilfields in China and the world are mainly discovered in the deep layer. The major breakthrough in 'Deep Earth' exploration is going to boost the development of relevant industries, including high-end manufacturing, advanced materials and core software," said Hao Fang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.