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In the early autumn, good news came from the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang: the first Wanmike exploration well in China, Well Shendi Take 1, was more than half deep and was moving towards ultra deep formations.

In the hinterland of the desert, Liu Jinlong, an engineer from the Tarim Oilfield Exploration Division of China National Petroleum Corporation, and his team members are busy digging underground to explore the practical application of ultra deep well technology. Liu Jinlong said, "The plan to drill a well with a depth of over ten thousand meters in Deep Earth Tako 1 will take more than 300 days, which will be the fastest record for drilling a ten thousand meter deep well in the world."

Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Tao

In recent years, Xinjiang has leveraged its advantages in resources and industries such as oil and gas, coal, and minerals to promote the construction of a national large-scale oil and gas production, processing, and reserve base, a large-scale coal, coal, electricity, and coal chemical base, a large-scale wind power base, and a national energy resource land-based corridor, making Xinjiang's contribution to ensuring national energy security and supply.

Taking the initiative to ensure people's livelihoods and supply, and solidifying the foundation of energy security

In the "forbidden zone of life" surrounded by barren Gobi and steep mountains, the "heartbeat" of clean energy is jumping in bright yellow gas pipelines.

Tarim Oilfield West East Gas Pipeline Network. Photo by Wang Chengkai

The weather is gradually cooling down, and the "military call" for ensuring natural gas supply this winter and next spring has sounded in the Tarim Oilfield: promoting drilling of key wells for natural gas supply, organizing cleaning operations for the main pipeline of the West East Gas Pipeline, and launching a new mode of "intelligent+manual" inspection

Recalling the video connection with General Secretary at the beginning of this year, Chang Guichuan, Secretary of the Party Branch of Lunnan Oil and Gas Storage and Transportation Center, said, "We are not only the first in terms of geographical location, but also the first in terms of loyalty, responsibility, and safety production. We must transform General Secretary's earnest instructions into a strong driving force and firmly hold the energy rice bowl in our own hands."

The Tarim Oilfield is the main gas source for China's "West East Gas Pipeline" and the primary gas source in southern Xinjiang, providing guarantees for the livelihood of 15 provinces, regions, and cities along the southern and downstream regions. As of now, the oilfield has supplied over 330 billion cubic meters of gas to the West East Gas Pipeline, maintaining its promise of "no short-term supply, no daily supply interruption".

As an important energy production base in China, Xinjiang not only has abundant oil and gas resources, but also ranks first in coal resource reserves, first in solar energy resource technology development, and second in wind energy resource technology development.

At Hami East Station, the "Xinjiang Coal Export" train is being reorganized here. Photo by Guo Ziyi

During the peak summer season, major coal production bases in Xinjiang are intensifying production and making every effort to ensure supply. In the open-pit coal mining area of Dananhu No.2 Mine in Hami City, unmanned wide body mining trucks and on-site excavators work together to continuously transport coal out of the mining area. A group of coal enterprises, including the National Energy Group, have deeply participated in the balance of the national energy market, and the scope of "Xinjiang Coal Export" supply guarantee has gradually expanded to central, eastern, and southern China.

In addition, in order to further ensure the supply of electricity in the national electricity market, State Grid Xinjiang Electric Power Co., Ltd. adheres to the principle of "one grid" and "one game" nationwide, while ensuring the balance of electricity in Xinjiang, and mobilizing the power supply resources throughout Xinjiang to the greatest extent possible. At present, the daily average external power transmission in Xinjiang is 337 million kilowatt hours, converting Xinjiang's abundant resources into electricity and transmitting it to the whole country to meet electricity demand.

Bite down the "hard bone" of technological breakthroughs and unleash the potential for energy resource development

"My major is resource exploration engineering, so staying here can realize the value of life." In 2020, Ding Guiyang, a student from Karamay Campus of China University of Petroleum, chose to stay in Xinjiang after graduation and joined Tarim Oilfield in the same year.

Only the desolate desert, no desolate life! In that year, 118 graduates of Karamay Campus of China University of Petroleum, including Ding Guiyang, received a kind reply from the General Secretary. For the past three years, they have leveraged their expertise, rooted themselves in the frontier, and left footprints in the frontline of oil and gas development.

The wellhead rises into the clouds, drilling rigs rumble, drilling, cementing, logging... In the so-called "Sea of Death" of the Taklamakan Desert, more than 200 people are fighting fiercely at the drilling site of the deep Tako 1 well, and oil and gas exploration and development are in full swing.

At the drilling site of Deep Taco 1 well, technicians promptly grasped the use and condition of drill bits and other tools. Photo by Chen Soldier

Among the 13 difficulty index coefficients of drilling and completion projects recognized in the world, 7 indexes in the Tarim Basin rank first, and other indexes are also in the forefront. The comprehensive difficulty is rare in the world.

"Searching for oil and gas in the underground rock formations that are rare in the world but only in China is like climbing Mount Everest." Liu Jinlong said that in the face of world-class exploration and development challenges, Tarim Oilfield has broken through traditional scientific research organization forms and transformed "small teams" into "group armies", allowing for close cooperation and coordinated operations among multiple disciplines and specialties.

Infinite scenery on perilous peaks! At present, the Tarim Oilfield has successfully drilled 104 ultra deep wells exceeding 8000 meters, providing sufficient basic conditions, technical preparation, and experience accumulation for the future exploration of the new era of "ten thousand meter era".

Accelerated drilling of Bozi 34 well located in the southern Tianshan Mountains. Photo by Li Long from People's Daily Online

Advancing deep into the Earth, searching for oil and gas at the "underground Mount Everest", and seeking production capacity from technology are the "magic weapons" for Xinjiang's oil and gas equivalent to rank first in the country for two consecutive years.

In the first half of the year, the volume of coal transportation from Xinjiang significantly increased, with a year-on-year increase of 78.8%. The release of coal production capacity also relies on technological empowerment. Through the construction of smart mines and the gradual promotion of technologies such as 5G, big data, and artificial intelligence, the transformation from "skilled coal mining" to "intelligent coal mining" has been achieved, providing intelligent "wings" for ensuring coal supply.

Data shows that in the first half of the year, Xinjiang's raw coal production was 211.5112 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 16.5%; The crude oil production was 16.8037 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 3.5%; Natural gas production reached 21.561 billion cubic meters, a year-on-year increase of 2.7%; The power generation reached 237.501 billion kilowatt hours, a year-on-year increase of 2.7%.

Pressing the "Acceleration Key" for Project Construction to Strengthen Modern Energy Economy

"The girls in Dabancheng have long braids and beautiful eyes..." Wang Luobin's song "The Girls in Dabancheng" made the Silk Road town resound throughout the country. This is also the cradle and museum of wind power development in China.

On August 4th, the National Energy Group Longyuan Electric Power Xinjiang Dabancheng Second Field "Replacing Small with Large" technical renovation and expansion project successfully completed the hoisting of the first unit. This project has played a positive demonstration role in promoting the development of the wind power industry in Xinjiang and even across the country.

Since the beginning of this year, Xinjiang has promoted a number of key projects in the fields of electricity, oil and gas, and coal from the "paper" to the "ground", adding bricks and tiles to the construction of a national energy and resource strategic guarantee base through practical measures.

On August 8th, the Hami Chongqing ± 800 kV ultra-high voltage direct current project started construction, which will build a "highway" for "West East Power Transmission"; On August 30th, the largest 3GW photovoltaic project in Xinjiang began construction, marking a new era in the development of the new energy industry in the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps; On August 31st, more than 98% of the progress of the Jiangnan Railway project for the "Xinjiang Coal Outbound Transportation" new channel has been completed, and after its opening, it will comprehensively enhance the capacity of Xinjiang's outbound transportation channel

The construction site of the largest 3GW photovoltaic project in Xinjiang. Photo by Li Xinyang from People's Daily

Implementing the "dual carbon" strategy, the energy sector is the main battlefield. On August 30th, the 300 MW photovoltaic power station of the Kuche Green Hydrogen Demonstration Project in Xinjiang achieved full capacity grid connection. At this point, China's first 10000 ton photovoltaic green hydrogen demonstration project has been fully completed and put into operation. "The project provides a replicable and promotable demonstration case for the large-scale industrial application of renewable energy production of green hydrogen in China," said Fan Linsong, General Manager of Sinopec Xinxing Xinjiang Green Hydrogen Company.

This year, Xinjiang is accelerating the construction of new energy bases with a capacity of tens of millions of kilowatts, such as Hami North, Zhundong, Nanjiang Huanta, and Ruoqiang. It is also accelerating the growth of multiple new energy gathering areas with a capacity of millions of kilowatts, such as Dabancheng and Bailifeng, and promoting the construction of the largest new energy export base in the country.

Karamay Mengshi Guangchu Urho 1 million kilowatt photovoltaic power generation supporting energy storage 120 kilowatt/240 kilowatt hour project. Photo by Xu Chen

Energy imports are one of the important factors in ensuring national energy security. In recent years, Xinjiang has deepened production capacity cooperation with neighboring countries, encouraged and supported enterprises in Xinjiang to participate in the exploration and development of oil and gas resources in the "the Belt and Road" countries, and provided strong support for the construction of the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt and China's opening to the west.

Wang Kuiran, Secretary of the Party Group of the Development and Reform Commission of the Autonomous Region, stated that a new pattern of coal development will be built based on coal, which includes safe and stable supply, clean and efficient utilization, and green and intelligent development; Oil and gas are the key, and we will continue to increase our efforts in natural gas exploration and development, as well as the construction of large-scale oil and gas fields. We will optimize and intensively layout oil and gas reserve facilities, and enhance our ability to ensure oil and gas security; Taking new energy as the direction, we will guide various prefectures to form a regional new energy development layout, promote the coordinated development of wind, solar, and water storage, leverage cluster effects through supply chain extension, and strive to build a high-quality development pattern of coordinated progress between new energy and related industries, and expand and strengthen Xinjiang's modern energy economy.

Dancing through emptiness in the air, it is difficult to achieve the cause of a thousand years; Seeking truth and pragmatism is the key to doing well and achieving success. Xinjiang will firmly grasp its strategic positioning in the overall national situation, adhere to seeking progress while maintaining stability, anchor and build a national energy and resource strategic guarantee base, comprehensively promote the construction of the "three bases and one channel" in the new era, and build a "ballast stone" for energy security.