SINOPEC Petroleum Exploration and Production Research Institute is one of the leading upstream research facilities in China. Founded in July 2000, and located in Beijing, it acts as SINOPEC's:

• Advisory department on E&P and upstream development strategy
• R&D and service department for upstream core technologies
• Training department for upstream high specialists
• Information center on petroleum E&P

At the core of its business are four, state-level, key research labs or centers: the State Key Laboratory of Shale Oil and Gas Enrichment Mechanisms and Effective Development; the State Energy Center for Shale Oil Research and Development; the State Oil Shale Development Research Center; and the State Energy Center for Sustainable Development of Mature Continental Sandstone Oilfields. Each lab or center is equipped with elites specialised in specific domains of upstream science and technology.

In addition, it is responsible for six SINOPEC key labs that work collaboratively on new technologies. These labs focus on research on: marine oil and gas reservoir development; oil and gas accumulation mechanisms; shale oil and gas exploration and development; elastic wave theory and application in detection; CCUS; and deep geology and resources.

The SINOPEC Petroleum Exploration and Production Research Institute currently publishes three academic journals; the Chinese-language titles Petroleum and Geology Experiment and Oil & Gas Geology, and Energy Geoscience, which is published in English.