China National Petroleum Corporation (China)

Abstract Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron sublineages BA.2.12.1, BA.4 and BA.5 exhibit higher transmissibility than the BA.2 lineage 1 . The receptor binding and immune-evasion capability of these recently emerged variants require immediate investigation. Here, coupled with structural comparisons of the spike proteins, we show that BA.2.12.1, BA.4 and BA.5 (BA.4 and BA.5 are hereafter referred collectively to as BA.4/BA.5) exhibit similar binding affinities to BA.2 for the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor. Of note, BA.2.12.1 and BA.4/BA.5 display increased evasion of neutralizing antibodies compared with BA.2 against plasma from triple-vaccinated individuals or from individuals who developed a BA.1 infection after vaccination. To delineate the underlying antibody-evasion mechanism, we determined the escape mutation profiles 2 , epitope distribution 3 and Omicron-neutralization efficiency of 1,640 neutralizing antibodies directed against the receptor-binding domain of the viral spike protein, including 614 antibodies isolated from people who had recovered from BA.1 infection. BA.1 infection after vaccination predominantly recalls humoral immune memory directed against ancestral (hereafter referred to as wild-type (WT)) SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. The resulting elicited antibodies could neutralize both WT SARS-CoV-2 and BA.1 and are enriched on epitopes on spike that do not bind ACE2. However, most of these cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies are evaded by spike mutants L452Q, L452R and F486V. BA.1 infection can also induce new clones of BA.1-specific antibodies that potently neutralize BA.1. Nevertheless, these neutralizing antibodies are largely evaded by BA.2 and BA.4/BA.5 owing to D405N and F486V mutations, and react weakly to pre-Omicron variants, exhibiting narrow neutralization breadths. The therapeutic neutralizing antibodies bebtelovimab 4 and cilgavimab 5 can effectively neutralize BA.2.12.1 and BA.4/BA.5, whereas the S371F, D405N and R408S mutations undermine most broadly sarbecovirus-neutralizing antibodies. Together, our results indicate that Omicron may evolve mutations to evade the humoral immunity elicited by BA.1 infection, suggesting that BA.1-derived vaccine boosters may not achieve broad-spectrum protection against new Omicron variants.

Based on analysis of the characteristics of unconventional hydrocarbon resources, this paper assesses the potential for unconventional hydrocarbons in China, summarizes the key technical progress in exploration and development, and discusses the prospects and developing strategies of unconventional hydrocarbons. The resources of unconventional oil and gas in China are abundant. The recoverable tight gas ranges from 8.8×1012 m3 to 12.1×1012 m3, the recoverable shale gas is from 15×1012 m3 to 25×1012 m3, the recoverable coalbed methane 10.9×1012 m3, the recoverable tight oil from 13×108 t to 14×108 t, and the recoverable shale oil 160×108 t. There is also some resource potential for oil sand. Such key techniques as the full-digital seismic exploration, low permeability and low resistivity reservoirs identification have been developed and their applications in oil and gas fields have achieved good results. Tight gas and tight oil are the most realistic resources to develop in China and the development and utilization of coalbed methane and shale gas are at a pioneer stage. In the next ten or twenty years, the production of unconventional hydrocarbon in China will increase considerably and play a major role in national hydrocarbon resources.

Abstract Continuous evolution of Omicron has led to a rapid and simultaneous emergence of numerous variants that display growth advantages over BA.5 (ref. 1 ). Despite their divergent evolutionary courses, mutations on their receptor-binding domain (RBD) converge on several hotspots. The driving force and destination of such sudden convergent evolution and its effect on humoral immunity remain unclear. Here we demonstrate that these convergent mutations can cause evasion of neutralizing antibody drugs and convalescent plasma, including those from BA.5 breakthrough infection, while maintaining sufficient ACE2-binding capability. BQ.1.1.10 (BQ.1.1 + Y144del), BA.4.6.3, XBB and CH.1.1 are the most antibody-evasive strains tested. To delineate the origin of the convergent evolution, we determined the escape mutation profiles and neutralization activity of monoclonal antibodies isolated from individuals who had BA.2 and BA.5 breakthrough infections 2,3 . Owing to humoral immune imprinting, BA.2 and especially BA.5 breakthrough infection reduced the diversity of the neutralizing antibody binding sites and increased proportions of non-neutralizing antibody clones, which, in turn, focused humoral immune pressure and promoted convergent evolution in the RBD. Moreover, we show that the convergent RBD mutations could be accurately inferred by deep mutational scanning profiles 4,5 , and the evolution trends of BA.2.75 and BA.5 subvariants could be well foreseen through constructed convergent pseudovirus mutants. These results suggest that current herd immunity and BA.5 vaccine boosters may not efficiently prevent the infection of Omicron convergent variants.

Monodispersed nickel phosphide nanocrystals (NCs) with different phases were successfully synthesized. The Ni₅P₄ NCs, with a solid structure, exhibited higher catalytic activity than the Ni₁₂P₅ and Ni₂P NCs.

ABSTRACT Much of the world’s oil and gas has been generated from source rocks inside deep (> 3,000 m or 9,840 ft) seal-bounded fluid compartments. The quantity and composition of the kerogen and the burial history of the source rocks determine the volumes of petroleum generated; however, the migration from the compartments in an oil and gas phase is a pressure-driven process in which the flow direction is controlled by the configuration and internal pressures of the fluid compartments. Many sedimentary basins contain layers of two or more superimposed hydrogeological systems. The shallow systems are usually basin wide in extent and exhibit normal hydrostatic pressures. The deeper systems, where the oil is generated, are not basin wide and are abnormally overpressured. They usually consist of a series of individual fluid compartments that are not in hydraulic pressure communication with each other nor with the overlying hydrodynamic regime. Tops of fluid compartments in currently sinking basins do not always follow a specific stratigraphic horizon. They frequently have planar tops and subsurface temperatures ranging from 90 ° to 100 °C (194 ° to 212 °F). The tops in clastic sediments appear to be caused by carbonate mineralization along a thermocline. In the North Sea, the depth to the top of the deepest seal changes with the geothermal gradient. The seal is deeper where the gradient is lower. The generation of oil and gas within the compartments plus the thermal expansion of pore fluids eventually causes fracturing of the top compartment seal during periods of basin sinking. Hydrocarbons and other pore fluids then move vertically into the overlying lower pressured sediments and accumulate in the nearest structural and stratigraphic traps. Seal fracturing causes a pressure drop with compartment fluids rushing to the breakout point. The compartment then reseals and pressure builds to another breakout. This episodic process continues with resealing and breakout cycles probably occurring in intervals of thousands of years in rapidly sinking basins such as the United States Gulf Coast. This concept of episodic dewatering of deep-basin fluid compartments needs to be considered in any basin-modeling program where the bulk of the oil generation occurs in the compartmented overpressured section of the basin and the oil moves vertically into the normally pressured rocks above.

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The Xiamaling Formation in the North China Block contains a well-preserved 1400 Ma sedimentary sequence with a low degree of thermal maturity. Previous studies have confirmed the dynamic and complex nature of this evolving marine setting, including the existence of an oxygen-minimum zone, using multi-proxy approaches, including iron speciation, trace metal dynamics, and organic geochemistry. Here, we investigate the prevailing redox conditions during diagenesis via the biomarkers of rearranged hopanes from the finely laminated sediments of the organic-rich black shales in Units 2 and 3 of the Xiamaling Formation. We find that rearranged hopanes are prominent in the biomarker composition of the oxygen-minimum zone sediment, which is completely different from that of the sediment in the overlying anoxic strata. Since the transition process from hopanes to rearranged hopanes requires oxygen via oxidation at the C-l6 alkyl position of 17α(H)-hopanes, we infer that dissolved oxygen led to the transformation of hopane precursors into rearranged hopanes during the early stages of diagenesis. The use of hopanoid hydrocarbons as biomarkers of marine redox conditions has rarely been previously reported, and the hydrocarbon signatures point towards oxic bottom waters during the deposition of Unit 3 of the Xiamaling Formation, which is consistent with the earlier oxygen-minimum zone environmental interpretation of this Unit.

Abstract The increasing demands for more efficient and brighter thin-film light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in flat-panel display and solid-state lighting applications have promoted research into three-dimensional (3D) perovskites. These materials exhibit high charge mobilities and low quantum efficiency droop 1–6 , making them promising candidates for achieving efficient LEDs with enhanced brightness. To improve the efficiency of LEDs, it is crucial to minimize nonradiative recombination while promoting radiative recombination. Various passivation strategies have been used to reduce defect densities in 3D perovskite films, approaching levels close to those of single crystals 3 . However, the slow radiative (bimolecular) recombination has limited the photoluminescence quantum efficiencies (PLQEs) of 3D perovskites to less than 80% (refs. 1,3 ), resulting in external quantum efficiencies (EQEs) of LED devices of less than 25%. Here we present a dual-additive crystallization method that enables the formation of highly efficient 3D perovskites, achieving an exceptional PLQE of 96%. This approach promotes the formation of tetragonal FAPbI 3 perovskite, known for its high exciton binding energy, which effectively accelerates the radiative recombination. As a result, we achieve perovskite LEDs with a record peak EQE of 32.0%, with the efficiency remaining greater than 30.0% even at a high current density of 100 mA cm −2 . These findings provide valuable insights for advancing the development of high-efficiency and high-brightness perovskite LEDs.

Abstract We conducted organic geochemical analyses on the largest suite of oils and source-rock extracts from the Tarim basin, northwest China, currently available. Statistical cluster analysis of the entire suite of Tarim oils distinguishes at least seven genetic groups of oils. The largest group of oils was collected from the Tazhong and Tabei uplifts and originated from marine Middle-Upper Ordovician anoxic marls that mark slope facies at the margins of structural uplifts. Two other genetic groups most likely originated from marine Middle-Upper Ordovician source rocks, but of distinct facies, with one an oxic shale-rich source west of the Bachu uplift and the other an anoxic shale source at Tazhong. Other genetic oil groups originated from various nonmarine source rocks. The largest of these groups consists of oils from the Luntai uplift, which best correlate with Jurassic lacustrine mudstones in the Kuqa depression, although Triassic lacustrine mudstones cannot be eliminated as a source for these oils. Two oils from southwest Tarim are highly mature. Despite uncertainty due to low biomarker concentrations, these oils probably originated from nonmarine shaly source rocks. The two remaining genetic groups consist of single oil samples: Yi603 (an oil likely derived from coal in the Kuqa depression) and Qu1 (derived from Carboniferous or Jurassic shaly source rock from the west flank of the Bachu uplift). Sample 63KLT (a seep sample from west of Kashi) has attributes of a lacustrine source rock and clusters with oils from Luntai. These results suggest that numerous source rocks occur in the basin, but they likely are areally restricted. Our results do not support previous published work that suggests that hypothesized euxinic source rocks might account for reserves of up to 350 billion bbl of oil.

The Mesoproterozoic Eon [1,600-1,000 million years ago (Ma)] is emerging as a key interval in Earth history, with a unique geochemical history that might have influenced the course of biological evolution on Earth. Indeed, although this time interval is rather poorly understood, recent chromium isotope results suggest that atmospheric oxygen levels were <0.1% of present levels, sufficiently low to have inhibited the evolution of animal life. In contrast, using a different approach, we explore the distribution and enrichments of redox-sensitive trace metals in the 1,400 Ma sediments of Unit 3 of the Xiamaling Formation, North China Block. Patterns of trace metal enrichments reveal oxygenated bottom waters during deposition of the sediments, and biomarker results demonstrate the presence of green sulfur bacteria in the water column. Thus, we document an ancient oxygen minimum zone. We develop a simple, yet comprehensive, model of marine carbon-oxygen cycle dynamics to show that our geochemical results are consistent with atmospheric oxygen levels >4% of present-day levels. Therefore, in contrast to previous suggestions, we show that there was sufficient oxygen to fuel animal respiration long before the evolution of animals themselves.

Abstract The Longmen Shan fold-thrust belt is one of the key regions of demonstrable Mesozoic–Cenozoic tectonic evolution in China, and the Sichuan Basin was the first natural-gas-producing area in China. In this article, the structural features of the Longmen Shan belt are presented, using both seismic profiles and field data. The complex structures of the northeast-trending Longmen Shan fold-thrust belt and its foreland in the western Sichuan Basin are formed by southeast-directed thrusting. Several eastward-verging, rootless thrust sheets and imbricates of Cambrian–Triassic rocks have been recognized in the northern Longmen Shan belt. Evidence suggests that the northern Longmen Shan belt experienced at least two major periods of deformation in the Late Triassic and Cenozoic. However, the southern Longmen Shan belt is represented by the basement-involved thrust structures and klippen, and its major periods of deformation were in the latest Cretaceous–early Cenozoic. Sedimentary features in the western Sichuan Basin reflect a two-phase flexural-loading history and illustrate that the Late Triassic foreland basin extends along the foredeep of the entire length of the Longmen Shan belt, but the uppermost Cretaceous–Paleogene rejuvenated foreland basin is restricted in the southern part of the western Sichuan Basin. Structural geometries suggest that prospective traps are mainly developed in the frontal zone of the Longmen Shan fold-thrust belt and in the southern part of the western Sichuan Basin. One of the major contributions of this article is finding preexisting Paleozoic rift basins under the Cenozoic thin-skinned thrust belts, which represent a new potential hydrocarbon play.

The lithology, lithofacies, reservoir properties and shale oil enrichment model of the fine-grained sedimentary system in a lake basin with terrigenous clastics of large depression are studied taking the organic-rich shale in the first member of Cretaceous Qingshankou Formation (shortened as Qing 1 Member) in the Changling Sag, southern Songliao Basin as an example. A comprehensive analysis of mineralogy, thin section, test, log and drilling geologic data shows that lamellar shale with high TOC content of semi-deep lake to deep lake facies has higher hydrocarbon generation potential than the massive mudstone facies with medium TOC content, and has bedding-parallel fractures acting as effective reservoir space under over pressure. The sedimentary environments changing periodically and the undercurrent transport deposits in the outer delta front give rise to laminated shale area. The laminated shale with medium TOC content has higher hydrocarbon generation potential than the laminated shale with low TOC content, and the generated oil migrates a short distance to the sandy laminae to retain and accumulate in situ. Ultra-low permeability massive mudstone facies as the top and bottom seals, good preservation conditions, high pressure coefficient, and lamellar shale facies with high TOC are the conditions for “lamellation type” shale oil enrichment in some sequences and zones. The sequence and zone with laminated shale of medium TOC content in oil window and with micro-migration of expelled hydrocarbon are the condition for the enrichment of “lamination type” shale oil. The tight oil and “lamination type” shale oil are in contiguous distribution.

Aiming at the actual demands of petroleum exploration and development, this paper describes the research progress and application of artificial intelligence (AI) in petroleum exploration and development, and discusses the applications and development directions of AI in the future. Machine learning has been preliminarily applied in lithology identification, logging curve reconstruction, reservoir parameter estimation, and other logging processing and interpretation, exhibiting great potential. Computer vision is effective in picking of seismic first breaks, fault identification, and other seismic processing and interpretation. Deep learning and optimization technology have been applied to reservoir engineering, and realized the real-time optimization of waterflooding development and prediction of oil and gas production. The application of data mining in drilling, completion, and surface facility engineering etc. has resulted in intelligent equipment and integrated software. The potential development directions of artificial intelligence in petroleum exploration and development are intelligent production equipment, automatic processing and interpretation, and professional software platform. The highlights of development will be digital basins, fast intelligent imaging logging tools, intelligent seismic nodal acquisition systems, intelligent rotary-steering drilling, intelligent fracturing technology and equipment, real-time monitoring and control of zonal injection and production.

To achieve the goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality under the backgrounds of poor resource endowments, weak theoretical basis and other factors, the development of the coalbed methane industry of China faces many bottlenecks and challenges. This paper systematically analyzes the coalbed methane resources, key technologies and progress, exploration effect and production performance in China and abroad. The main problems are summarized as low exploration degree, low technical adaptability, low return on investment and small development scale. This study suggests that the coalbed methane industry in China should follow the “two-step” (short-term and long-term) development strategy. The short-term action before 2030, can be divided into two stages: (1) From the present to 2025, to achieve new breakthroughs in theory and technology, and accomplish the target of annual production of 10 billion cubic meters; (2) From 2025 to 2030, to form the technologies suitable for most geological conditions, further expand the industry scale, and achieve an annual output of 30 billion cubic meters, improving the proportion of coalbed methane in the total natural gas production. The long-term action after 2030 is to gradually realize an annual production of 100 billion cubic meters. The strategic countermeasure to achieve the above goals is to adhere to “technology+management dual wheel drive”, realize the synchronous progress of technology and management, and promote the high-quality development of the coalbed methane industry. Technically, the efforts will focus on fine and effective development of coalbed methane in the medium to shallow layers of mature fields, effective development of coalbed methane in new fields, extensive and beneficial development of deep coalbed methane, three-dimensional comingled development of coalbed methane, applying new technologies such as coalbed methane displacement by carbon dioxide, microwave heating and stimulation technology, ultrasonic stimulation, high-temperature heat injection stimulation, rock breaking by high-energy laser. In terms of management, the efforts will focus on coordinative innovation of resource, technology, talent, policy and investment, with technological innovation as the core, to realize an all-round and integrated management and promote the development of coalbed methane industry at a high level.

The most abundant natural biopolymer on earth, cellulose fiber, may offer a highly efficient, low-cost, and chemical-free option for wastewater treatment. Cellulose is widely distributed in plants and several marine animals. It is a carbohydrate polymer consisting of β-1,4-linked anhydro-D-glucose units with three hydroxyl groups per anhydroglucose unit (AGU). Cellulose-based materials have been used in food, industrial, pharmaceutical, paper, textile production, and in wastewater treatment applications due to their low cost, renewability, biodegradability, and non-toxicity. For water treatment in the oil and gas industry, cellulose-based materials can be used as adsorbents, flocculants, and oil/water separation membranes. In this review, the uses of cellulose-based materials for wastewater treatment in the oil & gas industry are summarized, and recent research progress in the following aspects are highlighted: crude oil spill cleaning, flocculation of solid suspended matter in drilling or oil recovery in the upstream oil industry, adsorption of heavy metal or chemicals, and separation of oil/water by cellulosic membrane in the downstream water treatment. Keywords: Cellulose, Wastewater treatment, Petroleum industry

. Vaccination strategies to counter immune imprinting are critically needed. Here we investigated the degree and dynamics of immune imprinting in mouse models and human cohorts, especially focusing on the role of repeated Omicron stimulation. In mice, the efficacy of single Omicron boosting is heavily limited when using variants that are antigenically distinct from WT-such as the XBB variant-and this concerning situation could be mitigated by a second Omicron booster. Similarly, in humans, repeated Omicron infections could alleviate WT vaccination-induced immune imprinting and generate broad neutralization responses in both plasma and nasal mucosa. Notably, deep mutational scanning-based epitope characterization of 781 receptor-binding domain (RBD)-targeting monoclonal antibodies isolated from repeated Omicron infection revealed that double Omicron exposure could induce a large proportion of matured Omicron-specific antibodies that have distinct RBD epitopes to WT-induced antibodies. Consequently, immune imprinting was largely mitigated, and the bias towards non-neutralizing epitopes observed in single Omicron exposures was restored. On the basis of the deep mutational scanning profiles, we identified evolution hotspots of XBB.1.5 RBD and demonstrated that these mutations could further boost the immune-evasion capability of XBB.1.5 while maintaining high ACE2-binding affinity. Our findings suggest that the WT component should be abandoned when updating COVID-19 vaccines, and individuals without prior Omicron exposure should receive two updated vaccine boosters.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death and disability worldwide. The primary prevention of CVD is dependent upon the ability to identify high-risk individuals long before the development of overt events. This highlights the need for accurate risk stratification. An increasing number of novel biomarkers have been identified to predict cardiovascular events. Biomarkers play a critical role in the definition, prognostication, and decision-making regarding the management of cardiovascular events. This review focuses on a variety of promising biomarkers that provide diagnostic and prognostic information. The myocardial tissue-specific biomarker cardiac troponin, high-sensitivity assays for cardiac troponin, and heart-type fatty acid binding proteinall help diagnose myocardial infarction (MI) in the early hours following symptoms. Inflammatory markers such as growth differentiation factor-15, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, and uric acid predict MI and death. Pregnancy-associated plasma protein A, myeloperoxidase, and matrix metalloproteinases predict the risk of acute coronary syndrome. Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 and secretory phospholipase A2 predict incident and recurrent cardiovascular events. Finally, elevated natriuretic peptides, ST2, endothelin-1, mid-regional-pro-adrenomedullin, copeptin, and galectin-3 have all been well validated to predict death and heart failure following a MI and provide risk stratification information for heart failure. Rapidly developing new areas, such as assessment of micro-RNA, are also explored. All the biomarkers reflect different aspects of the development of atherosclerosis.

Abstract Flexible solar cells have a lot of market potential for application in photovoltaics integrated into buildings and wearable electronics because they are lightweight, shockproof and self-powered. Silicon solar cells have been successfully used in large power plants. However, despite the efforts made for more than 50 years, there has been no notable progress in the development of flexible silicon solar cells because of their rigidity 1–4 . Here we provide a strategy for fabricating large-scale, foldable silicon wafers and manufacturing flexible solar cells. A textured crystalline silicon wafer always starts to crack at the sharp channels between surface pyramids in the marginal region of the wafer. This fact enabled us to improve the flexibility of silicon wafers by blunting the pyramidal structure in the marginal regions. This edge-blunting technique enables commercial production of large-scale (&gt;240 cm 2 ), high-efficiency (&gt;24%) silicon solar cells that can be rolled similarly to a sheet of paper. The cells retain 100% of their power conversion efficiency after 1,000 side-to-side bending cycles. After being assembled into large (&gt;10,000 cm 2 ) flexible modules, these cells retain 99.62% of their power after thermal cycling between −70 °C and 85 °C for 120 h. Furthermore, they retain 96.03% of their power after 20 min of exposure to air flow when attached to a soft gasbag, which models wind blowing during a violent storm.

The development theories of low-permeability oil and gas reservoirs are refined, the key development technologies are summarized, and the prospect and technical direction of sustainable development are discussed based on the understanding and research on developed low-permeability oil and gas resources in China. The main achievements include: (1) the theories of low-permeability reservoir seepage, dual-medium seepage, relative homogeneity, etc. (2) the well location optimization technology combining favorable area of reservoir with gas-bearing prediction and combining pre-stack with post-stack; (3) oriented perforating multi-fracture, multistage sand adding, multistage temporary plugging, vertical well multilayer, horizontal and other fracturing techniques to improve productivity of single well; (4) the technology of increasing injection and keeping pressure, such as overall decreasing pressure, local pressurization, shaped charge stamping and plugging removal, fine separate injection, mild advanced water injection and so on; (5) enhanced recovery technology of optimization of injection-production well network in horizontal wells. To continue to develop low-permeability reserves economically and effectively, there are three aspects of work to be done well: (1) depending on technical improvement, continue to innovate new technologies and methods, establish a new mode of low quality reservoir development economically, determine the main technical boundaries and form replacement technology reserves of advanced development; (2) adhering to the management system of low cost technology & low cost, set up a complete set of low-cost dual integration innovation system through continuous innovation in technology and management; (3) striving for national preferential policies.

By systematically summarizing horizontal well fracturing technology abroad for shale oil and gas reservoirs since the “13th Five-Year Plan”, this article elaborates new horizontal well fracturing features in 3D development of stacked shale reservoirs, small well spacing and dense well pattern, horizontal well re-fracturing, fracturing parameters optimization and cost control. In light of requirements on horizontal well fracturing technology in China, we have summarized the technological progress in simulation of multi-fracture propagation, horizontal well frac-design, electric-drive fracturing equipment, soluble tools and low-cost downhole materials and factory-like operation. On this basis, combined with the demand analysis of horizontal well fracturing technology in the “14th Five-Year Plan” for unconventional shale oil and gas, we suggest strengthening the research and development in the following 7 aspects: (1) geology-engineering integration; (2) basic theory and design optimization of fracturing for shale oil and gas reservoirs; (3) development of high-power electric-drive fracturing equipment; (4) fracturing tool and supporting equipment for long horizontal section; (5) horizontal well flexible-sidetracking drilling technology for tapping remaining oil; (6) post-frac workover technology for long horizontal well; (7) intelligent fracturing technology.