Oil flows from another offshore project in eastern Asia

Chinese state-owned oil and gas giant China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has brought online an oilfield development project off the coast of China in eastern Asia on the western shore of the Pacific Ocean.

While confirming the production start-up from its 100% owned Bozhong 19-2 oilfield development project, CNOOC underlines that the main production facilities encompass a new central processing platform and four new unmanned wellhead platforms.

“Smart engineering and standardized construction has remarkably reduced the project’s construction cycle. It has strongly promoted the efficient development of offshore oil and gas resources and laid a solid foundation for the production growth in the Bohai oilfields, the largest crude oil production base in China,” highlighted CNOOC.

Located in central Bohai Bay, within an average water depth of about 20 meters, the project is envisioned to entail a total of 59 developments, including 34 production wells and 25 water injection wells. The project is expected to achieve a peak daily production of approximately 18,800 barrels of heavy crude oil in 2025.

The latest development has been brought on stream less than two weeks after CNOOC began production from a natural gas project in the South China Sea, where the total proved gas in place reserves exceeded one trillion cubic meters.

The gas project in the South China Sea followed the commencement of oil production at a project equipped with a platform and floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) unit as part of the revitalization efforts undertaken at old deepwater oil fields to ensure the country’s energy security.

The company also made a string of discoveries recently, including a natural gas one, which is said to mark the first major exploration breakthrough in ultra-deepwater carbonate rocks off the coast of China.

This discovery came on the heels of the one the firm confirmed in ultra-shallow gas play in the ultra-deepwater of the South China Sea. The ramp-up in offshore drilling is aligned with the company’s business strategy and development plan for 2024.