Initiatives in Cooperating with Local Government and Communities Promote the Development of a HTHP Gas Field in Remote Area of China: Development of Keshen Gas Field

Abstract

Keshen gas field is located in the southern foothill of Mount Tianshan, Western China. Administratively it belongs to Baicheng County, a poor and remote county. This county is composed of 20 ethnic groups, who have their own cultures and languages, which pose difficulties for project management. With a series of initiatives for cooperating with the local government and communities, a yearly natural gas productivity of 5 billion cubic meters were established within five years. A series of measures were taken to win the support of local government. A 108-kilometer long highway was constructed in the mountainous area and shared with local communities. A pipeline network was established to transmit natural gas from Keshen gas field to the suburban areas of Baicheng and other remote places, which changed the local main fuel from firewood into clean natural gas. We hired local people, trained them and gave them decent salaries. More than 2,000 job opportunities were provided to local ethnic minorities, which accounts for 18.5% of the total workers in this project. Thanks to the initiatives we have taken, a harmonious development mode was established in Keshen gas field. It was put into production within five year's construction. The average productivity of a single well is more than 500 thousand cubic meters. The total amount of taxes as well as the GDP of Baicheng County was twice as before. The southern Xinjiang pipeline network encircles half of the Tarim Basin. 41 towns along the pipeline and 4 million people are benefiting from the natural gas produced from Keshen gas field. In return, the local government and communities provided a lot of conveniences for the project crew. The government released several restrictions on seismic exploration and pipeline construction. Since the project crews were mostly from urban areas, the local residents also help us to recognize risks and formulate risk-reducing practices for conducting engineering work in the Gobi and desert area. We also instructed the local residents to do business with Keshen development project, including selling of construction and living materials, renting of equipment, transport vehicles, etc. This initiative also helped to reduce unemployment rate and benefit the project management as well. Keshen gas field is one of the most complicated reservoir in China, not only because of the ultra-deep HPHT reservoirs, but also because of the complicated social environment. A win-win cooperation mode between the Oilfield Company and local communities has been established after a series of initiatives. This set a solid foundation for the sustainable development of Keshen gas field and also set an example for the development of reservoirs in remote areas.