A corner of the current Daqing Oilfield production area. (Photo by Zhao Yongan)
During the war, Wang Jinxi (middle) and the drilling workers carried the drilling rig on their shoulders to ensure drilling operations. (File picture)
scientific research support
"Beyond authority, beyond predecessors, beyond self"
"The crude oil in Daqing Oilfield has high wax content and high freezing point, and can only be exploited if it is moved to the equator!" In 1960, the war had just begun, and the assertions of foreign experts had already hit. A few years later, the international authoritative "mild and uniform water injection" development theory hit a wall in the field’s production practice – "After three years of water injection, half of the water was flooded, and only 5% of the crude oil was produced".
Authority theory "failed", what should I do?
"I believe in science more than authority!" Wang Qimin, a researcher who was less than 30 years old at the time, boldly proposed a "heterogeneous water injection" mining scheme that was completely different from foreign theories. To verify the scheme, he and his team sampled wells in the freezing cold of minus 30 degrees Celsius, collected and analyzed tens of millions of data, and lived in an icy tent for 10 years.
In the past 10 years, Daqing crude oil production has increased at a rate of more than 20% per year, and by 1976, it achieved 50 million tons of production and reached the peak of production.
It is difficult to reach the peak, but it is easy to reach the peak, and many oil fields turn around and go straight down soon after reaching the peak. Can the "peak" be extended? The key depends on whether there is a replacement capacity. Wang Qimin’s team has anchored the off-surface reservoir with a thickness of less than 0.5 meters in the underground oil layer, breaking the international public opinion that the oil layer cannot be exploited with facts; breaking the old model of "extraction and stable production" during the high water cut period of the oil field, and successfully exploring a new method of "stabilizing oil and controlling water"… By injecting strong "technical pressure" into the oil field, Daqing Oilfield has been stable at the "peak" of annual output of 50 million tons for 27 years.
"Beyond authority, beyond predecessors, beyond self", in the experimental building of Daqing Oilfield Exploration and Development Research Institute, these 12 characters are particularly eye-catching, reflecting the 60-year journey of Daqing Oilfield daring to challenge itself and overcome difficulties, as well as the shining dedication of generations of Daqing researchers.
The stick of "transcendence" has been passed on to Wu Xiaolin’s generation. Wu Xiaolin studied fine chemicals, and in 1994, after graduating from graduate school, he came to Daqing. "If you study fine chemicals, what can you do in the oil field?" Friends persuaded; "If you let a big company do cosmetic research and development, why go from the south to the northeast to earn that dead wage?" The family was even more puzzled.
In the mid-1990s, Daqing Oilfield entered a period of high water cut, and more than 90% of the liquids produced were water. People turned their attention to the ternary composite flooding oil production technology, trying to use chemical agents to "wash" the oil hidden in the pores of the rock. If this technology is successfully applied, the oil field can dig out about 300 million tons of recoverable reserves! The "surface activator" for "washing" oil needs to be imported from abroad, and the raw materials are not less than 20,000 yuan per ton. The cost is extremely high, and the exploitation is worthless.
Wu Xiaolin, who studies fine chemicals, firmly believes that he has a lot to do in the development of "surface activators". However, foreign authorities assert: "China does not have the basic raw materials for the production of surface activators, you should forget about it."
Don’t believe in evil! Wu Xiaolin borrowed the laboratory key from a colleague and used weekends and weekday evenings to squeeze in other people’s rest time to study key problems. In order to find alternative raw materials, he went to Fushun, went to Nanjing, and traveled to washing plants all over the place to change for available scraps…
In order to strengthen the confidence of the relevant departments, he "went all the way to the end", reported to the leaders of the research institute with the immature results, and even went to the leadership meeting of the oilfield company to ask for orders: The research on the localization of surface activators will definitely be successful, and the core technology must be in our own hands!
Wu Xiaolin was stunned, and his leader, Yang Zhenyu, the director of the second room of the research institute’s recovery rate research at that time, was also willing to "take the blame" for him. The hospital leaders asked Yang Zhenyu to consult on the feasibility of localizing the surface activator, and Yang Zhenyu immediately issued a military order – if he couldn’t get it, he took the initiative to be laid off!
What is it that makes these Daqing researchers all strong and brave? Today, the ternary compound flooding oil production technology has been industrialized and promoted, contributing more than 4 million tons of crude oil annually, and Wu Xiaolin can’t forget:
In those years, Wang Qimin, who had retired, was still in the laboratory, guiding them and other teams to do scientific research, and passing on the courage to surpass and the toughness to chew bones to the younger generation of researchers.
In those years, large-scale experiments were in trouble, and in the face of tens of millions of yuan in losses, the research institute leaders said tolerantly: "There will be failures in scientific research, and it is not terrible to find out why!" The team proposed to increase the equipment, and in less than 3 months, the imported equipment of 500,000 US dollars arrived;
In those years, Wu Xiaolin specialized in the research and development of surface activators, and other teams were willing to work behind the scenes to support technical applications – no matter how difficult it was, it was no bigger than "everyone is of the same mind, and the profit is broken"!
Now, 25 years later, from water flooding, polymer flooding to ternary compound flooding, Daqing three oil production technology has been fruitful, and has won three national science and technology progress awards; 25 years, Wu Xiaolin in the research and development of surfactant, has repeatedly amazed international peers, many foreign companies have thrown a lot of money, "Come to us, give you 10 million yuan annual salary." Wu Xiaolin refused.
"Do you regret it?" Just as the reporter finished speaking, Wu Xiaolin choked up. He mentioned the old leader Yang Zhenyu –
In 2009, Yang Zhenyu died of liver cancer. When his colleagues tidied up his desk, they found a 2000 doctoral admission letter from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Only then did people know that in the year he issued the military order, at the most critical moment of surface activator research, he silently gave up the opportunity to study and devoted himself to the research.
Overseas entrepreneurship
Let the "Daqing Spirit" and "Iron Man Spirit" go abroad
A leopard approached from the grass bit by bit, ready to take off, jump, and pounce at any time…
"Bang!" Xie Yuxin, who was lowering his head to wipe the tools, accidentally dropped the pipe pliers in his hand and hit the cable winch, making a muffled sound. The leopard was startled and rushed towards the periphery of the well field like an arrow… "Oh my god, it’s so dangerous!" Xie Yuxin looked up and saw this scene, and was shocked into a cold sweat.
This is a tropical rainforest in Sumatra, Indonesia, with swamps, mosquitoes, and wild animals and venomous snakes from time to time. The two electric pump wells served by Daqing Oilfield Lishen Pump Industry Co., Ltd. are located here. Xie Yuxin, who escaped from Baokou, is the company’s project manager in Indonesia. Since 2003, he has been responsible for equipment sales, maintenance and other services.
In addition to facing the harsh environment and possible dangers at any time, we must also face the cold eyes of the outside world.
As the captain of the overseas 1205 drilling team, Li Xinmin led the team led by the iron man Wang Jinxi to South Sudan and went abroad for the first time. However, the brand of "1205 Drilling Team" did not let the local high-level look: the language level was half-baked, and he could not understand the supervision instructions of Party A; international standards and norms were inaccurate, and relevant operations could not meet the requirements…
In the eyes of outsiders, this team was just drilling equipment. The next year, Party A wanted to drill a horizontal well and find a drilling team, but they just wanted to borrow the equipment, and they still wanted to find someone else to do the work. Li Xinmin felt bitter.
At the beginning of this century, the overseas business of Daqing Oilfield has just started. What happened to Xie Yuxin and Li Xinmin, every Daqing person who "went out" has experienced a lot.
"Uncomfortable with the soil and water" in the new environment? Li Xinmin treated it with "unsatisfactory spirit". A few days later, he found Party A and explicitly refused to borrow the equipment. At the same time, he sent a detailed analysis of the drilling technology of the horizontal well.
The president of Party A’s operations department was surprised, and after thinking about it for a few days, he said: "I will believe you once. This well is very important, and if it is destroyed, I will be the first to be’fired ‘, and you will be the second!"
It was very difficult to drill a horizontal well, and the local geological conditions were complicated. Li Xinmin knew very well that if he took the "porcelain job", he had to take out the "diamond", which required not only hard work, but also technology.
In those days, Li Xinmin led the whole team to analyze the local strata, and sorted out more than 20 operation essentials; compared with international standards, combined with possible problems, made a full set of plans; as soon as the drilling rig started drilling, in the high temperature of more than 50 degrees Celsius, these young people from Northeast China "gasped for breath", but they all ate and lived on the well, strictly controlled the technical operation, and kept an eye on every parameter…
Here, Li Xinmin "desperately" relies on excellent technology; over there, Xie Yuxin "desperately" relies on excellent service.
At that time, Daqing Oilfield served many offshore oil platforms in Indonesia, all of which were more than 100 nautical miles away from land. When the equipment malfunctioned in the middle of the night, Xie Yuxin took a speedboat and went to sea.
The sea is wide and the waves are big, and it is often violent and stormy. It is night, and the dinghy jumps one or two meters high on the sea surface. There is no seat belt, so Xie Yuxin ties himself with a rope…
At the end of 2005, Xie Yuxin once made a round trip of 300 nautical miles in two days, rushed to the oil production platform on a rainy night, worked for more than 20 hours, and then hurried back to Party A’s headquarters in a small boat at 1 o’clock in the middle of the night to report… In those years, he did not distinguish between day and night, and the emergency service response cycle never exceeded 1 hour.
Relying on technology and service, Daqing people have won a reputation overseas.
"Is this what you call the’iron man spirit ‘?" Returning to Party A’s headquarters that day, the staff asked Xie Yuxin admiringly and gave him a thumbs up.
Li Xinmin’s drilling team not only drilled horizontal wells of high quality, but also 11 days ahead of the planned time. The president of Party A’s operation department added another sentence: "In the future, all horizontal wells in this block will be drilled by you first!"
More than a decade later, today, from a single product and service, to exploration and development, engineering construction, production, operation and maintenance and other fields, Daqing’s pace of going global is getting faster and faster, and the level of integrated services is also getting higher and higher. Behind this is still the strength of the Daqing battle back then –
They carried artemisinin and walked into Sumatra, where malaria was frequent; they went deep into the volatile Iraq under artillery fire; sometimes they saw bombs explode not far away, and sometimes they were stopped by terrorists with guns… But no one evacuated without receiving instructions.
They have brought the "Daqing Spirit" and "Iron Man Spirit" out of the country, and at the same time, they have greatly expanded the production capacity space of Daqing Oilfield, covering 26 countries and regions in five regions including the Middle East, Central Asia, Asia Pacific, Africa, and America. Last year, the 41.67 million tons of oil and gas equivalent achieved by Daqing Oilfield included 6.17 million tons of overseas equity production.
Today, Li Xinmin is the manager of the Middle East branch of Daqing Oilfield; Xie Yuxin is the director of the market development department of Daqing Oilfield, responsible for overseas market planning. Xie Yuxin showed reporters a plan for the future oil and gas equivalent production of Daqing Oilfield. By 2059, 100 years after the discovery of Daqing Oilfield, the annual oil and gas equivalent will still remain above 40 million tons. He pointed to the increasing overseas crude oil production line, "Look, then overseas crude oil will account for more than half of the total output!"
Strict management and efficiency
"The’three old and four strict ‘will always be the root and soul of Daqing people"
As soon as you shake hands, you know that Zhang Bi is a tough guy – knife marks crawl from fingers to the back of his hand.
However, in the 23 years from 1996 to the present, he has been beating at the grassroots level for a long time, from oil extractor, vice-captain, captain, and deputy mine manager to manager of Minmetals in the first oil production plant.
Time is silent, but it will leave imprints. At the beginning of this century, he was the captain of the 206 oil production team in the No. 1 Oil Production Plant and No. 2 Mine. At that time, during the production period of the oil field, he had to manage more than 200 wells, including more than 20 wells with a daily output of hundreds of tons. But Zhang Bi found that the total output of the team often failed to meet expectations. After confirming that there were no problems with pipeline metering and other aspects, he suddenly realized that someone was stealing oil! Zhang Bi personally led the night patrol and caught several gangs. During this period, there were many fierce confrontations, leaving many marks on the back of his hands and head.
The pain is easy to treat, and the root cause of the management disease exposed is difficult to treat: workers doze off on duty at night, go through the motions during inspections, and even individual employees don’t care if they see someone stealing oil.
What is the tradition of Daqing? What are the requirements of the post responsibility system? An ideological discussion unfolded in the whole team. Zhang Bi started from himself, and the vice-captain and team leader went down level by level. During this time, it was found that there were still people playing cards on duty. The team leader suggested criticizing them, but Zhang Bi mercilessly ordered them to check at the team meeting.
This captain Zhang became famous in the oil field for his tough management. A year later, the laggard team was ranked among the silver medal teams in the whole factory evaluation. In Zhang Bi’s opinion, such ideological discussions and strict management are a good tradition that Daqing has continued for many years.
In the 1960s, a fire broke out at a water injection station in the oil field, causing a loophole in management and a "post responsibility system". In the fourth oil production team in the first oil production plant, workers accidentally squashed the production wax scraper and wanted to hide the past. After the team cadres found out, they started a discussion in the whole team, "When dealing with the revolutionary cause, you must be honest, tell the truth, and do honest things; when dealing with work, you must have strict requirements, strict organization, a serious attitude, and strict discipline." The spirit of "three elders and four strictures" originated.
Over the years, grass-roots party organizations in every corner of Daqing Oilfield have adhered to the inheritance and innovation of party building work, started production from ideas, and started production from ideas. Such discussions have been integrated into daily life in Daqing Oilfield, and the more practical they are.
"Check the style of a tile" – Some tiles fell from a pool in the West Water Source of Daqing Oilfield Water Supply Company, and no one cared for it for a long time. After the company’s leaders found out, they organized a discussion among all employees to reflect on "what we lost from a tile";
"A wrench smashed out the’eight no handover method ‘" – the wrench slipped off during a tower operation by a worker of the light hydrocarbon fractionation branch, almost injuring the inspection workers. After checking the reason, it was found that the tools were not cleaned during the shift. The company reflected and discussed, and formulated "eight no handover" specifications such as "tools are not intact and do not hand over, and operating parameters are abnormal and do not hand over";
"Looking for a gap in the face of the gold medal" – in a gold medal substation evaluation, the power supply company Spark won 96 points of gold medals in a substation, and the employees were very happy. But after returning, the company launched a big discussion on "looking for a gap in the face of the gold medal", because 0.5 of the deducted 4 points was due to employees spilling a drop of ink on the operation record, "A small mistake may cause equipment failure or even production accidents when it is critical."
Entering the new era, Daqing has been strengthening its management step by step, using digital and intelligent construction to give management the wings of science and technology: the "post responsibility system" realizes informatization, the responsibilities of each post are detailed to the grass-roots operation and management manual, which can be checked online, and the completion situation is "online check-in" every day; management realizes "centralized monitoring, unattended", the computer will alarm if the equipment is running abnormally, and the staff on duty can directly control it on the computer to deal with it…
Although Zhang Bi had entered the construction period of the "smart oil field", he was still so meticulous and strict in his management as the mine manager. The implementation of professional team management in the whole mine was a new thing in recent years.
Wang Zhonghui, a Minmetals oil producer, used to do the same things as everyone else, "do regular work and eat big rice". Now, according to each person’s characteristics, "special people do special work". Wang Zhonghui was good at studying, and was assigned to be responsible for maintaining the belts of the oil wells. He and two members together cut out a big benefit from one belt.
Energy saving: In the past, the belt was adjusted by whoever was on duty, either too loose or too tight, the former affected oil production, and the latter increased power consumption. Now there are special personnel for fine maintenance, and each belt is tightened just right, which not only ensures efficiency, but also saves electricity;
Consumption reduction: In 2016, Minmetals replaced 5 belts per oil well every year. Now, Wang Zhong will put a rain cover on the belt on rainy days; use a new belt for oil wells with high load, and then use the old belt for oil wells with small load after a while; the old belt can be reused and partially transformed, turning waste into treasure… Today, Minmetals only changes 1 belt per oil well a year, and this alone saves 1 million yuan per year.
It also produced more oil. In the past, the belt’s operating rate was 96%, but now it is 98%. Every time the rate increases by one point, according to the number of wells in the mining area, 15 tons of oil will be produced in one day…
"The times have progressed, and good traditions cannot be lost." Zhang Bi said, "The’post responsibility system ‘and’three elders and four strictures’ will always be the root and soul of Daqing people."
reform-driven
Create a century-old oil field with high and stable output
What is the connection between lipstick and oil wells?
Liu Li, a senior technician at Daqing Oil Production Plant No. 2, was amazed by her "unrestrained ideas": in the past, when oil leaked from the wellhead, replacing the sealing ring of the cylindrical packing box, you had to use a screwdriver to dig it in little by little, and the pieces at the bottom would not be clean, and the polished rod in the packing box would be worn.
Looking at the lipstick, Liu Li opened her head – set a rotating base under the packing box to "turn" the damaged sealing ring like a lipstick. The adjustable packing box designed by Liu Li not only saves time and improves efficiency, but also greatly reduces wear and tear and improves the service life of the polished rod.
What’s even more unexpected is that this small invention has been updated and developed for 5 generations since it came out in 2000. This year’s newly launched fifth-generation product, Liu Li installed a spring device for it, saving 11 degrees of electricity per well per day.
After 20 years of insisting on doing one thing well, Liu Li said with a smile, "I have been stepping on the drumbeat of reform."
Over the years, she has pulled up a team: from the beginning of organizing a group of technicians to tackle each production problem, to establishing a "Liu Li Studio", and developing to 531 members in 11 specialties such as oil production, testing, and machinery. Behind this is Daqing’s continuous integration of grassroots technological innovation resources, exploration of professional types of complementarity, production problems, and various reform measures to integrate technological innovation forces into the production line.
The core reform is to link innovation achievements with benefits, which can not only be rewarded according to the actual application results in the production line, but also be included in the promotion evaluation of technical titles. At the beginning of this year, Liu Li and five other members of the studio became technical experts of China National Petroleum Corporation group company based on their outstanding performance of producing more than 20 innovation achievements every year.
Continuously promote the reform of the system and mechanism, stimulate the vitality of innovation and efficiency, and the team of Daqing Oilfield Company has a clear idea: Daqing’s high and stable production depends on science and technology, and Daqing’s eternal vitality depends on reform.
Many people still remember that in early 2003, Daqing awarded each outstanding contributor to technological innovation a small car. This was a "rare thing" in those days. Today, such "rare things" are more and more.
Wu Xiaolin "resigned"!
In 2017, Wu Xiaolin went to the leader to ask for orders and resigned as the chief engineer of the exploration and development research institute of the oilfield company, "Let me be the official and hold various meetings every day, which is a loss for Daqing!"
It turned out that Daqing implemented a "dual-sequence" reform of administrative and technical positions in its scientific research institutions to build a growth platform for scientific researchers with different development intentions. Wu Xiaolin was hired as a first-level expert in the oil field company. Although he resigned from the official position, his salary and other benefits remained unchanged. This reform allowed more than 70 people in the company, including Wu Xiaolin, to leave their leadership positions and concentrate on research and development.
Wu Xiaolin’s assistant "has been promoted"!
As a researcher in Wu Xiaolin’s team, Zhang Xiaoqin is only at the deputy level, but three department-level leaders of oilfield companies work as experts under her, working together to complete a major project.
In 2016, Daqing Oilfield implemented the reform of the project system for major scientific and technological research projects, and the project leader was openly recruited, not only based on qualifications and grades. With the advantage of dabbling in oil recovery research in types 1, 2, and 3, Zhang Xiaoqin stood out…
Following the rhythm of reform, more and more Daqing people feel that "the value is greater and the work is more motivated", and the Daqing Oilfield has full potential for development.
There are "back tricks" for tapping potential in China – Wu Xiaolin demonstrated the latest microbial oil displacement technology to reporters: injecting microorganisms into the ground to drive oil, through chemical action, some oil that is not easy to exploit can be recovered in the form of natural gas, "The technology is still in the experimental demonstration stage, the annual gas production per gram of crude oil can reach more than 150 milliliters, and the oil and gas conversion rate is more than 10%!"
According to the development plan of "15 years ahead of research, 10 years ahead of testing, and 5 years ahead of supporting", Daqing has stocked up on a batch of such technologies.
The foreign market has great potential – in recent years, the fruitful tertiary oil recovery technology has begun to go out with the overseas team of Daqing. Wu Xiaolin said: "At present, we are cooperating with relevant countries to carry out the pilot test of tertiary oil recovery technology. After the test is successful, our overseas oil production will have a greater breakthrough!"
When interviewing Sun Longde, the party secretary of Daqing Oilfield, the reporter once again saw the future oil and gas equivalent production planning map – by 2059, when Daqing Oilfield is a hundred years old, the annual oil and gas equivalent will remain above 40 million tons. Sun Longde said: "Reform will inspire wisdom, wisdom and will, which is Daqing’s inexhaustible high-yield oil field! Our dream is more than 40 million tons?!" (Reporters Wang Yibiao, Fei Weiwei, Wu Qiqiang, Sun Zhen)
