CNOOC Ltd. introduced Tuesday “the primary main exploration breakthrough in ultra-deepwater carbonate rocks offshore China” after drilling almost 3,000 meters (9,842.5 toes) deep into the Pearl River Mouth Basin.
Testing of the Liwan 4-1 nicely yielded a manufacturing charge of 430,000 cubic meters (15.2 million cubic toes) a day of absolute open movement pure fuel, CNOOC Ltd., majority held by state-owned China Nationwide Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), stated in a press launch.
The nicely sits in a water depth of almost 1,640 meters (5,380.6 toes) within the Baiyun Sag, the most important hydrocarbon sag within the Pearl River Mouth Basin, CNOOC Ltd. stated. Liwan 4-1 is about 300 kilometers (186.4 miles) southeast of Shenzhen metropolis.
- Advertisement -
The whole depth was almost 4,400 meters (14,435.7 toes). A fuel pay zone of round 650 meters (2,132.5 toes) confirmed within the horizontal part, the oil and fuel exploration and manufacturing firm stated.
“The nicely has revealed promising exploration prospects within the ultra-deepwater Globigerinid limestone in China, and successfully promotes the pure fuel exploration course of in Baiyun Sag”, CNOOC Ltd. stated.
The corporate’s chief geologist, Xu Changgui, famous, “Beforehand, exploration in China’s ultra-deepwater areas primarily targeted on clastic rocks”.
“The success of this nicely has, for the primary time, revealed the big potential of carbonate rocks in China’s ultra-deep waters, marking vital breakthroughs in each exploration understanding and operational methods”, Xu stated.
CNOOC Ltd. plans to develop the invention utilizing the prevailing infrastructure of the close by Liwan 3-1 fuel subject.
Final month it stated Chinese language authorities confirmed the quantity of confirmed pure fuel in-place within the Lingshui 36-1 subject to be over 100 billion cubic meters (3.5 trillion cubic toes).
“It’s the first large-size ultra-shallow fuel subject in ultra-deep water on the earth, which opens up a brand new space of exploration in deep waters”, CNOOC Ltd. stated in a information launch August 7.
After testing, Lingshui 36-1 was proven to supply over 10 million cubic meters (353.1 million cubic toes) per day of absolute open-flow fuel, in accordance with the announcement.
The sphere sits within the southern a part of the Central Sag of the Qiongdongnan Basin at a mean water depth of 1,500 meters (4,921.3 toes). Lingshui 36-1 is buried 210 meters (689 toes) deep, “making it a typical ultra-deep-water ultra-shallow fuel subject”, CNOOC Ltd. stated.
With the brand new reserves, confirmed fuel within the South China Sea has now exceeded one trillion cubic meters (35.3 trillion cubic toes), in accordance with the corporate. CNOOC Ltd. stated Lingshui 36-1 is the fifth giant fuel subject found within the sea after Dongfang 1-1, Liwan 3-1, Lingshui 17-2 and Baodao 21-1. The fields are unfold throughout the Pearl River Mouth, Qiongdongnan and Yinggehai basins.
“The South China Sea trillion-cubic-meters fuel area has thus develop into actuality” after many years of exploration, CNOOC Ltd. stated then.
CNOOC Ltd. has now declared three discoveries within the South China Sea this yr.
Apart from Lingshui 36-1 and Liwan 4-1, it introduced final March a “main” discovery within the Kaiping South oilfield, which sits within the deepwater jap South China Sea. The sphere has a mean water depth of about 500 meters (1,640.4 toes).
Drilled to a complete depth of three,462 meters (11,358.3 toes), the KP18-1-1d discovery nicely encountered 100.6 meters (330.1 toes) of oil and fuel pay zones. The invention added over 100 million tons of oil equal confirmed in-place sources, the primary deepwater deep-play oilfield within the East Asian nation to breach 100 million tons of in-place quantity, in accordance with CNOOC Ltd.
“The nicely was examined to supply a mean of roughly 7,680 barrels of crude oil and 0.52 million cubic toes of pure fuel per day”, it stated in a media launch March 8. “By continued exploration, the proved in-place quantity of Kaiping South Oilfield has reached 102 million tons of oil equal”.
In different firm developments, CNOOC Ltd. stated September 4 the Wushi 17-2 Oilfields Growth Undertaking within the Beibu Gulf had began manufacturing.
CNOOC Ltd. expects to realize peak manufacturing of roughly 9,900 barrels of oil equal per day in 2026 on the undertaking, deliberate to have 43 growth wells together with 28 manufacturing ones. The manufacturing services embody a brand new wellhead platform and an oil and fuel processing terminal.
To contact the writer, e-mail jov.onsat@rigzone.com
