Recalling the Struggles of Earlier Generations and Bravely Embracing the New Era’s Mission for State-Owned Enterprises | The Party Branch of the Geophysical Exploration Institute Holds a Thematic Party Day Activity

On October 18, 2023, Party members from the Party branch of the Institute of Geophysical Exploration who are based in Chengdu visited the Memorial Hall of Chairman Mao’s Inspection of the Longchang Gas Field to carry out a themed Party Day activity titled “Recalling the Struggle of the Older Generation and Bravely Embracing the Mission of State-Owned Enterprises in the New Era.”

Longchang Gas Mine is China’s first modern natural gas industrial gas mine. It was here that the nation’s first batch of natural-gas-based carbon black was produced, making a historic contribution to breaking the Western blockade of China’s rubber industry. On March 27, 1958, Chairman Mao Zedong braved the rain to inspect the carbon black workshop at Longchang Gas Mine and issued the important instruction: “Natural gas must be utilized in a comprehensive manner.” A rare photograph captures him inspecting the facility while squatting—a posture seldom seen during official visits. Thus, Longchang Gas Mine became the only petroleum enterprise ever visited by this great leader. To commemorate his profound care and guidance, the carbon black workshop at Longchang Gas Mine was renamed “Workshop 327,” and the kiln where Chairman Mao conducted his inspection was designated “The Most Glorious Kiln.”

With profound reverence for the Party, the Party members first watched a documentary video in the Yuejin Auditorium, then visited the main exhibition hall and the Sichuan Oil Campaign History Museum. In the display cases of the main exhibition hall, tools used to produce carbon black back in those days were neatly arranged—covered with thick layers of rust and encrusted with carbon black, silently recounting the arduous efforts of their predecessors. Beside the fire room where Chairman Mao had once conducted his inspection, all the Party members listened attentively as the guide vividly described the scene from those years. Time seemed to rewind to that chilly night, when a giant who had made history, deeply concerned about the development of China’s petroleum industry and brimming with high hopes for the modern industrialization of the new China, bent down to listen to reports, carefully examined equipment, and with his extraordinary wisdom and foresight, pointed out the path forward for China’s energy sector.

Today, adjusting the energy structure is one of the key tasks facing China's energy development and also an important component in ensuring China's energy security. Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the Geophysical Exploration Institute, under the strong leadership of the Party Committee of Sichuan Resources Group, seizes the opportunities presented by the new round of strategic actions for breakthroughs in mineral exploration and energy resource exploration. It actively integrates into the market for Natural Resources and Ecological Environment Construction, using Party building to drive development and technological innovation as its driving force. The Institute continuously leverages its technological strengths, earnestly fulfills its mission as a state-owned enterprise in the new era, and contributes to the exploration and development of China's energy resources.

Next to the lifelike display of shale gas exploration and development in the “Four Major Gas Regions” at the Sichuan-Chongqing Shale Gas Special Exhibition Area of the Sichuan Petroleum Campaign History Museum, Party members were deeply moved and overjoyed as they gazed upon the exhibits, and they took commemorative photos together. These “Four Major Gas Regions” are precisely the key battleground where the Geophysical Exploration Institute has been deeply engaged in oil and gas exploration and development! In recent years, the Institute has carried out a series of geophysical exploration projects in the Changning Block, Weiyuan Block, Western Chongqing Block, and Luzhou Block, leveraging integrated engineering geophysical technologies, wide-area electromagnetic exploration techniques, and fracture-induced electromagnetic monitoring technologies as platforms to provide technical support for site selection and electrical property analysis of shale gas target formations. Its technical services have penetrated deep into the upstream sector of oil and gas development, continuously enhancing its oil and gas service capabilities, further highlighting its core strengths, and steadily consolidating and expanding its market presence.

After the tour, all Party members gathered beneath the Party flag to renew their oath of joining the Party. Stepping into a chapter of history and commemorating past memories serves as a spiritual cleansing for Party members. This themed Party Day activity has further inspired the sense of responsibility and mission among Party members of the Party branch at the Institute of Geophysical Exploration’s administrative office. Everyone expressed that they would take this activity as an opportunity to carry forward and uphold the spirit of dedication shown by the older generation of energy workers—those who were unafraid of hardship or fatigue. They pledged to act with diligence and achieve success, dare to venture forth and strive bravely, and contribute the strength of Sichuan’s resource exploration sector to promoting the development of green energy, building China’s “Gas Daqing,” and helping the Group firmly uphold its role in ensuring energy and ecological security.

Executive Producer | Zhang Guangda
Reviewed by | Zou Zhongping
Editor-in-charge | Zhou Huiying
Text | Li Yueping
Figure | Wen Han
Editor | Wen Han