China’s first locally-made subsea tree put into use

China’s oil and gas giant China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) has rolled out the country’s first locally-made subsea Xmas tree.

CNOOC reported that the first China-produced subsea Xmas tree was officially put into use on February 6.

The subsea tree is 3.5 meters long, 3.2 meters wide, and 3 meters high, with an overall weight of nearly 22 tons.

According to the company, this marks a new step for China’s offshore oil industry in improving the recovery rate of old oil fields and is of great significance to promoting the high-quality development of the country’s offshore oil industry.

The equipment, said to be the core piece used in subsea production systems, is used to connect oil from under the sea to pipelines.

A few days ago, CNOOC kicked off production from what is said to be is said to be the “largest” secondary development and adjustment project offshore China.

This project is in line with the Chinese player’s business strategy and development plan for 2024, which aims to ramp up oil & gas production, fortify its hydrocarbon reserves, and step up natural gas exploration activities while advancing the company’s energy transition agenda to low-carbon and renewable energy through the integrated development of green sources, such as offshore wind, and oil and gas business.