‘World’s largest metamorphic buried hill oilfield’ comes online three years after discovery

Chinese state-owned oil and gas giant China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has tucked another milestone under its belt by switching the production mode on at an oilfield project in Bohai Bay, which is expected to boost its oil arsenal while taking advantage of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) to enable low-carbon barrels and development in the region.

CNOOC, which operates the Bozhong 26-6 oilfield development project (Phase I) with 100% interest, has brought this project on stream, describing it as “the world’s largest metamorphic buried hill oilfield” with cumulative proven oil and gas in place of over 200 million cubic meters.

Located in central Bohai Bay, within an average water depth of approximately 20 meters, the project’s main production facilities encompass a new central processing platform and an unmanned wellhead platform. The oil property is said to be light crude.

The Bozhong 26-6 project is expected to reach a peak production of approximately 22,300 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2025. To this end, 33 development wells are planned to be commissioned, including 22 production wells, 10 gas injection wells, and one water source well.

The Chinese giant claims that this project benefits from the application of standardized engineering; thus, it took only three years from the discovery of the oilfield for oil to start gushing out, realizing the rapid conversion of reserves to production.

Yan Hongtao, CNOOC’s President, highlighted: “The successful commencement of production of Bozhong 26-6 oilfield development project (Phase I) marks a new stage for the company in the development of offshore deep play complicated buried hill oil and gas reservoirs as well as the construction of the Bohai CCUS base.

“It bolsters the company’s energy supply capacity and low-carbon development in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and Bohai Rim regions.”

Since the Bozhong 26-6 development is one of the firm’s CCUS demonstration projects in Bohai, it adopts advanced technology to capture and separate the associated carbon dioxide from crude oil extraction and reinject it back into the formation to drive the oil.

The process is perceived to up the production ante while curbing carbon emissions. Thanks to the carbon capture technology, Bozhong 26-6 is expected to bury approximately 1.5 million tons of carbon dioxide throughout its life cycle.

CNOOC has earmarked up to $19 billion to ramp up its oil and gas production this year with the exploration and development of large and medium-sized oil and gas fields while harnessing more offshore wind and onshore solar, alongside other clean and low-emission developments, together with artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize its hydrocarbon business.

Multiple oil and gas discoveries were made last year. Many projects entered hydrocarbon production mode, including the firm’s latest gas project in the Yinggehai Basin off the coast of China, which came online last month.