Shengli Oilfield in China completes project to utilize geothermal heat from produced fluids
Gudong Oilfield, part of the Shengli Oilfield in Shandong Province, China (source: rheins, CC BY 3.0 
Carlo Cariaga
19 Feb 2026
Sinopec has completed a project that harnesses geothermal heat from idle wells and produced fluids at the Shengli Oilfield in Shandong Province, China.
Waste heat from produced fluids at the Shengli Oilfield in Shandong Province in China is now being utilized successfully, replacing the gas-fired heating furnaces in the oilfield’s gathering and transportation system. The project has been in development since 2024, with the aim of “building a geothermal within the oilfield.”
Located in the delta of the Yellow River, the Shengli Oilfield is one of the biggest and oldest oilfields in China. It is operated by the Shengli Oilfield Company, a subsidiary of Sinopec. The oilfield is hosted by the Jiyang Depression, an oil basin that happens to have a high geothermal gradient of 35.5°C/km (Yu et al., 2026). Such parameters were the basis for the initiative to both convert idle oil wells into geothermal wells and extract waste heat from produced fluids.
A total of 51 waste heat utilization projects were built since 2024. Part of the project was the interconnection of heating pipelines with local enterprises, thus also driving the green transformation of the surrounding area. In total, the system has an annual heating capacity of 3.46 million GJ, which can reduce CO2 emissions by 223,000 tons.
Yang Yong, the principal person in charge of Shengli Oilfield, stated that the development of the oilfield and the thermal field has already yielded significant economic and environmental benefits. In the future, the company will further promote the use of clean geothermal energy in auxiliary processes of oil product, and explore new paths for the energy transition of traditional energy enterprises.
Sinopec had previously approved a geothermal heating pilot project at the Dagang Oilfield, which is part of a wider initiative by Sinopec to develop geothermal resources in their operational oilfields.
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Source: Sina.cn
