CNOOC's semi-submersible energy facility sets sail

China National Offshore Oil Corp, or CNOOC, said it has delivered and set sail the world's first 100,000-metric-ton deep-water semi-submersible oil production and storage facility in Yantai, Shandong province.

The Deep Sea No 1 energy station was independently developed and constructed by China and is proof of the country's deep-water oil and gas field development and offshore engineering equipment construction capabilities, said industry experts.

The energy station will be pulled from Shandong all the way down to the southeast of Hainan island next month, for the development of China's first deep-water self-operated gas field－the Lingshui 17-2 gas field, said CNOOC.

The energy station will go through more than four months of oil and gas production installation and debugging and will be put into operation in June. It will supply 3 billion cubic meters of offshore natural gas for regions like Guangdong, Hainan and Hong Kong, ensuring one-fourth of the residential gas demand in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, it said.

Located 150 kilometers away from Hainan island at the intersection of the Eurasian, Pacific and Indo-Australian tectonic plates, the Lingshui 17-2 gas field has undergone many challenges, including complicated geological structure, high temperature and pressure, ultra-deep-water and adverse weather such as typhoons.

It is expected to meet the growing energy needs of China, which is heavily dependent on imported oil and natural gas.

Li Ziyue, an analyst with BloombergNEF, said the delivery showcases CNOOC's equipment manufacturing and engineering capability, which is expected to enhance offshore development capacity and national energy security.

With a designed life of 150 years, the energy station has a maximum oil storage capacity of 20,000 cubic meters.

As the first independent ultra deep-water discovery made in the region, the Lingshui 17-2 gas field underwent several industrial challenges, said You Xuegang, operations director of the project.