Daqing Inaugural Oil Well

In late March 1959, the Songliao Petroleum Exploration Bureau 32118 drilling team completed the drilling of the Songji One Well and subsequently commenced construction of the Songji Three Well on April 11, with a designated depth of 3,200 meters. The harvest rate was just 49.2% during the well section coring due to inexperience; nonetheless, the drill core identified oil sands at 6 distinct depths.^[3] At this moment, Kang Shien, the vice minister of the Ministry of Petroleum Industry, recognized that the well exhibited a 5.7° inclination, which would significantly impede its progress. Consequently, he contemplated halting the drilling; however, this decision faced opposition from the Soviet Union experts within the Ministry of Petroleum Industry. Kang Shien sent the pertinent information to higher authorities, and upon receiving backing, he promptly ceased drilling and started oil testing. On July 20, the Songji three well was finalized at a depth of 1,461.76 meters, and on August 29, the well was finished, prompting the original rig to commence oil testing.^[2] On September 6, the Songji Three Well was test-fired in three of the six previously identified thin oil layers, which had a cumulative thickness of 1.7 meters. Each layer was refilled with 2 meters of oil at both the top and bottom; nevertheless, no oil was produced.^[3] Following the descent of the oil pipe, the introduction of pure water, and the removal of muck from the wellbore, oil remained absent. The Ministry of Petroleum Industry and the Petroleum Research Institute coordinated with Zhao Shengzhen and other technical personnel at the oil testing site, and mobilized resources to extract water from the well. On 8 September, at a depth of 300 meters from the bottom of the well, oil was observed as the water level continued to decline, resulting in an increase in the quantity of oil. A total of 113 cubic meters of crude oil and 52 cubic meters of water were recovered after several days of salvage operations. Following the application of pressure in the lower oil pipe, oil started to erupt out on September 26, with daily crude oil output potentially reaching 13.02 tons following testing. Between October 1959 and February 1960, following extensive test mining, the mining personnel demonstrated that the well could sustain long-term consistent output.^[2] In April 1988, the Songji Three Well tube casing exhibited several irreparable cracks.^[4] On July 25, the well was officially shut off.^[5] At this point, the well had yielded a cumulative total of 10,100 tons of crude oil.^[6]

On October 1, 1959, Wang Shun, a prominent driller from the 32118 drilling crew, conveyed the joyous announcement of the oil field discovery to national officials on the Tiananmen. On October 12, the Heilongjiang Provincial Party Committee convened a Standing Committee meeting to commemorate the success of the Songji Three Well in oil production, subsequently renaming Datong Town in Zhaozhou County to Daqing Town, and altering the name of Datong People's Commune to Daqing People's Commune two days later. On November 8, five People's Communes named Daqing, Xinzhu, Daguan, Zhongxin, and Qunzhong were combined as Daqing District.^[2] Subsequently, the Ministry of Petroleum Industry and several ministries engaged in oil exploration in the region, ultimately establishing the Daqing oil field.^[7]