China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has injected more than 13 million metric tons of carbon dioxide to date, a figure the company says accounts for over 60% of cumulative CO2 injection across China's petroleum sector. The state-owned major confirmed the milestone at a State Council Information Office briefing, where Zhang Deping, a technical lead at CNPC's Jilin Oilfield, presented the figures.

Across the broader Chinese oil industry, cumulative injection has now approached 20 million tons as state majors move CCUS from pilot demonstrations into commercial-scale deployment. The sector-wide number and CNPC's share both come from the State Council briefing.

Throughput is still climbing. In the first half of 2026, CNPC injected over 1.37 million tons of CO2, up 14.2% year-on-year. The company's commercialization model rests on carbon capture, utilization, and storage for enhanced oil recovery (CCUS-EOR): CO2 goes into depleted reservoirs, where it both sequesters carbon and boosts crude recovery rates. That dual revenue logic — barrels plus buried tonnes — is what separates CNPC's program from storage-only projects and underpins its push to scale.

National project pipeline

CNPC's volumes sit within a fast-growing national portfolio. China now hosts more than 120 CCUS demonstration projects in operation or planning, according to figures cited at the briefing. That pipeline aligns with national decarbonization targets and positions CCUS-EOR as the dominant commercialization pathway for capture capacity in the country's hydrocarbon sector.

The company has also built out proprietary technology across the CCUS value chain to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers. CNPC has developed localized low-energy capture technologies, supercritical CO2 pipeline transport systems, and specialized geological monitoring tools. The technical claims come from the company's presentation at the State Council briefing.

The scale-up tracks a global market that is expanding, if from a low base. Global operational carbon capture capacity reached 73 million tons per year in 2026, according to industry estimates from S&P Global. CNPC's 1.37 million tons injected in the first half of the year — an annualized run rate of roughly 2.7 million tons — makes it one of the single largest contributors to that operating base, though injection volumes and nameplate capture capacity are not directly comparable metrics.

15th Five-Year Plan targets

The next phase is already defined. Under China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–30), CNPC intends to build integrated industrial CCUS clusters, linking carbon management facilities directly with renewable power projects and clean thermal energy generation. The stated objective is twofold: preserve domestic hydrocarbon output while cutting emissions from production operations.

The cluster model marks a shift from single-site EOR injections toward hub-and-cluster infrastructure — shared capture, pipeline, and storage networks serving multiple emitters. For pipeline operators, capture technology suppliers, and oilfield service companies, the 2026–30 plan window is when CNPC's announced projects either convert into built capacity or join the backlog.

What decides the trajectory now is execution against the plan's deadline: whether CNPC converts its 120-plus national project pipeline and cluster commitments into contracted, operating tonnage before the Five-Year Plan window closes in 2030. Watch the year-end injection figures — first-half 2026's 14.2% growth rate is the benchmark the company has set for itself.