Oil and gas are the most important primary energy in China or even in the world. The survival and development of the oil industry is determined by such factors as hydrocarbon resources, markets, technology, and socio-political and economic environment, among which technological advance is one of the most active and critical factors. China has become a major producer and consumer of oil and gas in the world, and the developments of China's petroleum industry upstream are highly dependent on the advancement in petroleum technology. China's petroleum industry has established an advanced and complete system for the research and development of theoretical technology and equipment manufacturing, which has supported the sustainable stable yield and the growth of oil and gas output. In the future, China will enter a critical period of social and economic development. The petroleum industry will face great challenges and new technological needs, vigorously implement national innovation strategies, develop new and internationally advanced exploration and development theories and technologies, support the development of the petroleum industry, and protect the national energy security of oil and gas. China's petroleum industry will face major challenges and technological requirements in the future, including: (1)meeting huge oil and gas demand in China's future modernization construction and ensuring the security of oil and gas supply, which requires oil companies to increase domestic oil and gas exploration and development, and further expand oil and gas investment and production along the "Belt and Road" route; (2)achieving long-term stable domestic oil production of more than 2×108t/a; (3)increasing domestic natural gas production to 3 000×108m3/a and maintaining long-term production; (4)developing advanced technologies and equipments for offshore and deepwater oil and gas exploration and development; (5)developing a new generation of technical equipment for petroleum engineering service and realizing digital transformation. The future scientific and technological researches and development priorities in China's petroleum industry upstream include: (1)advanced technologies for greatly enhanced oil recovery; (2)exploration technologies for large gas fields and enhanced oil recovery technologies for complex gas fields; (3)unconventional oil and gas exploration and development technologies; (4)technologies and equipments for offshore and deepwater oil and gas exploration and development; (5)technologies applicable to oil and gas exploration and development along the "Belt and Road" route; (6)new generation technologies and equipments for petroleum engineering service and digital transformation. © 2020, Editorial Office of ACTA PETROLEI SINICA. All right reserved.
