China expands ultra-deep oil and gas drilling efforts

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China is expanding its efforts to drill ultra-deep oil and gas wells — defined as more than three-and-a-half miles deep — as the world’s largest crude importer steps up domestic exploration.
Like the US, China also broke oil and gas production records in 2025, though it has hastened its efforts this year in a bid to shield itself from war-related vicissitudes in global energy markets, The South China Morning Post reported, reflecting one prong of Beijing’s variegated energy approach.
China’s “enormous oil stockpiles, overland pipelines, new technologies to convert coal to chemicals, and embrace of green technologies have given Beijing strategic leverage” over its island neighbors, which remain cripplingly dependent on imported energy, Semafor’s China columnist argued.

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