The status, challenge and prospect of shale oil exploration and development in China

Shale oil is in situ trapped oil/gas resource in shale series which mainly composed of shale, but its trap boundary is not distinct and cannot form its own natural industrial productivity. With the improvement in horizontal well and staged fracturing technologies and development capabilities, it has become the consensus among the counties in the world that shale oil will most likely be the energy source, which will replace oil and natural gas. The continental shale in China has developed lamellation, containing rich shale oil resource, but China’s research on shale oil started late. In line with the concept of shale oil development planning, presents the status of China’s shale oil exploration and development, technologies and equipment and analyzes the challenges in shale oil development.