The Jinzhou 23-2 Oilfield Development Project in the Bohai Sea is now onstream as “the first multi-layer heavy oil thermal recovery project offshore China”, CNOOC Ltd. announced Tuesday.
The state-backed oil and gas exploration and production company expects the project to reach about 17,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day (boed) in peak production in 2027. The oil portion is heavy crude, according to a statement on CNOOC Ltd.’s website.
“The project adopts the method of ‘steam stimulation+chemical auxiliary steam flooding’ to reduce the viscosity of crude oil, thus effectively improve [sic] the utilization of reserves in offshore heavy oil field”, the company stated.
“It will strengthen the energy supply to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region”.
The production facilities include two new central processing platforms. CNOOC Ltd., majority-owned by China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), eyes 67 development wells in the project, 65 of which would be for production. The remaining two would be water source wells.
Jinzhou 23-2, fully owned by CNOOC Ltd., sits on the northern part of the Bohai Sea at water depths of around 13 meters (42.65 feet) on average, according to the company. The Bohai Sea is the northwestern part of the Yellow Sea, which is sandwiched between the Chinese mainland and the Korean Peninsula.
CNOOC Ltd. has now announced four start-ups in Bohai waters this year. The earlier ones are the Bozhong 19-2 Oilfield Development Project, the Bozhong 19-6 Gas Field 13-2 Block 5 Well Site Development Project and the Suizhong 36-1/Luda 5-2 Oilfield Secondary Adjustment and Development Project.
On Monday the company announced production had started at the Huizhou 26-6 Oilfield Development Project in the Pearl River Mouth Basin, its sixth startup in the South China Sea in 2024.
Huizhou 26-6, CNOOC Ltd.’s “first deep buried hill reservoir development project in the South China Sea”, is expected to reach about 20,600 boed in peak production in 2027, it said in a press release. The project, which has an average water depth of around 110 meters (360.89 feet), mainly produces light crude and natural gas.
The sole owner plans to commission 19 wells consisting of 17 for gas production and two for petroleum production. “The main production facilities include a new intelligent drilling production platform, as well as the adaptively-modified ‘NAN HAI FEN JIN’ FPSO [floating production, storage and offloading unit]”, CNOOC Ltd. said.
“The Company has been actively adopting the state-of-art technologies”, it added. “The first intelligent offshore drilling production platform in China was built for this project to realize efficient development of the offshore oil and gas resources”.
“The new project will contribute to the economic and social development of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area”, it said.
In the South China Sea, before Huizhou 26-6, CNOOC Ltd. put online the Liuhua 11-1/4-1 Oilfield Secondary Development Project, the Shenhai-1 Phase II Natural Gas Development Project, the Wushi 17-2 Oilfields Development Project, the Wushi 23-5 Oilfields Development Project and the Xijiang 30-2 Oilfield Xijiang 30-1 Block Development Project.
In the first nine months of 2024 CNOOC Ltd.’s domestic output rose 6.6 percent year-on-year to 369.2 million boe (MMboe), according to the company’s quarterly report published October 28.
CNOOC Ltd. also unlocked new production in Brazil and Canada in 2024.
On November 6 CNOOC Ltd. announced production had begun at the Long Lake Northwest Project in the Canadian province of Alberta. It expects the project to achieve a peak production of 8,200 bpd next year.
“It will be developed with steam-assisted gravity drainage operation and 8 well pairs are planned to be commissioned”, CNOOC Ltd. said.
CNOOC Petroleum North America ULC, a wholly owned subsidiary of CNOOC Ltd., operates the project with a 100 percent stake.
On October 31 CNOOC Ltd. and its partners announced start-up in the third phase of the Mero oilfield in the Santos Basin offshore Brazil. Mero3 has a production capacity of 180,000 bpd, which will raise the field’s installed capacity to 590,000 bpd.
CNOOC Ltd., through CNOOC Petroleum Brasil Ltda., holds a 9.65 percent stake. Operator Petróleo Brasileiro SA has 38.6 percent, TotalEnergies SE 19.3 percent, Shell PLC 19.3 percent, China National Petroleum Corp. 9.65 percent and Pré-Sal Petróleo SA 3.5 percent.
CNOOC Ltd.’s overseas production in the first three quarters grew 12.2 percent year-over-year to 172.9 MMboe, driven by the Payara oilfield in Guyana’s Stabroek block, according to its quarterly report.
Total production in the first nine months increased 8.5 percent to 542.1 MMboe, a company record for the January–September period.
Source: By Jov Onsat from rigzone.com