NRCan-China Hydrocarbon Geosciences Collaboration Project

Advance significantly geochemical research through a partnership between several Canadian and Chinese stakeholders. This is a key research area because heavy oil and unconventional gases are the largest sources of fossil fuels in both countries.

Objectives

• Develop better techniques to define heavy oil and unconventional gas deposits.
• Teach Chinese partners to be self-sufficient in geochemical research.
• Transfer Chinese technological expertise in geochemical research to Canada.
• Help Canadian private sector and Chinese industry identify investment opportunities in the Canadian oil and gas sector.
• Create deeper ties with China and opportunities for future research relationships.
• Give Canada international visibility to initiate additional collaborations with other countries.

Partners

• Canadian Partners
  • Earth Sciences Sector (ESS), Natural Resources Canada (NRCan)
  • Husky Energy
  • University of Calgary (UOFC)
• Chinese Partners
  • Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
  • PetroChina Company (PetroChina)
  • China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec)
  • China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC)
  • China Petroleum University (CPU)
  • China University of Geosciences (CUG)
  • Yangtze University (YU)

Duration

From 2004 to 2012

Background

Through a comparative study of Chinese and Canadian basins of acidic petroleum, the earlier activities centered on development of laboratory analytical protocols for its characterization, as well as development of subsurface mapping techniques to identify petroleum traps.

The new phase of the project focuses on geochemical research capacity building for unconventional gas resources. Through personnel exchange and joint workshops, the project will utilize the geoscientific expertise of the ESS and other Canadian and Chinese stakeholder to achieve several goals:

• provide mutual sample and data access in Canadian and Chinese shallow gas and deepwater projects;
• develop practical tools for characterizing shallow gas and deepwater gas systems; and
• improvise methodologies for gas resource assessment and spatial prediction.

Contact

Dr. Maowen Li, Ph.D. - Project Manager