China has completed the installation of its longest deepwater oil and gas pipeline in a project led by China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) Ltd, achieving a breakthrough in the country’s construction capacity for the deep-sea technology, according to a report by the China Global Television Network (CGTN).
According to the report, the submarine pipeline is a crucial component of the phase 2 project of China’s first independently developed ultra-deep water power station, Shenhai-1, or Deep Sea-1, which entered operation in June 2021. The maximum operating depth in the area is nearly 3,280.8 feet (1,000 meters). Subsea pipelines serve as a “lifeline” to ensure the smooth transportation of offshore oil and gas, as the oil and gas extracted from the field have “complex components” and are subjected to high temperatures and pressures. Conventional marine pipelines cannot meet production requirements, according to the report.
CNOOC’s Phase 2 project began construction in November 2022 and is located about 130 kilometers (80/78 miles) from the city of Sanya in South China’s Hainan Province, between the Yacheng 13-1 gas field and Shenhai-1 power station. Once operational, the Phase II project is expected to increase the maximum annual output of the Shenhai-1 gas field from 105.9 billion cubic feet (three billion cubic meters) to 158.9 cubic feet (4.5 billion cubic meters).
CNOOC’s development model for the project includes a subsea production system, a shallow-water jacket processing platform and a remote control system for a deep-water semi-submersible platform, according to Wu Hualin, deputy manager of the Hainan branch of CNOOC. The company is using a combined approach of 70.8 miles (114 kilometers) of large diameter seamless steel pipe and 0.9 miles (1.5 kilometers) of deepwater bimetallic composite pipe in the deepwater environment to establish the “aorta” connecting the Phase 2 project for oil and gas transmission, according to the report.
According to the report, China has laid more than 5,592.3 miles (9,000 kilometers) of offshore oil and gas pipelines so far.
As of February 2023, CNOOC said Shenhai-1, the first deepwater gas field fully operated by a Chinese company, had produced more than 35.3 billion cubic feet (billion cubic meters) of natural gas, with a daily production of 353 million cubic meters. feet (10 million cubic meters).
Shenhai-1 has the world’s first 100,000 metric ton semi-submersible oil production and storage platform and supplies 105.9 billion cubic feet (three billion cubic meters) of gas to Guangdong Province, Hong Kong Province and Hainan in southern China every year, according to a previous post. CGTN report.
Earlier this month, CNOOC had commissioned the country’s first offshore carbon capture and storage (CCS) project. The CCS project is an auxiliary to the development of the Enping 15-1 oil fields, located in the Pearl River Estuary Basin, and can store more than 1.5 million tons of carbon dioxide.
CNOOC hit record net production of 624 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) in 2022, according to the company’s website. Its 2023 net production target is 650 to 660 MMBoe.
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