“CNOOC Ltd. has adopted an innovative combined development approach of ‘conventional water injection + steam huff and puff + steam flooding’, providing strong technical support for the efficient utilization of oil reserves”, it added. “The project’s platform integrates both conventional cold production and thermal recovery systems, and is equipped with over 240 sets of key equipment.
Previously in 2025 CNOOC Ltd. announced three startups in the Bohai Sea and three in the South China Sea. The Bohai Sea projects are the Caofeidian 6-4 oilfield adjustment, phase 2 of the Luda 5-2 North field and the Bozhong 26-6 field. The South China Sea projects are Wenchang 19-1 oilfield phase 2, the Dongfang 29-1 field and the Panyu 11-12/10-1/10-2 Oilfield Adjustment Joint Development Project.
For 2025, the company lowered its production outlook and said it would keep capital expenditure at 2024 levels, but going forward, it said there were more record-breaking plans in production for the next two years. In 2025, the capital expenditure for exploration in China will mainly be directed to sustain crude oil reserves while expanding natural gas reserves, led by the construction of the three trillion-cubic-meters-level gas regions, CNOOC said in January, as it continues to follow China’s directive to state majors to boost domestic oil and gas reserves and supply.
The main production facility is a new drilling and production platform, which leverages the adjacent existing facilities for development. CNOOC added that 25 development wells are planned to be commissioned, including 18 production wells and seven gas injection wells.
Cnooc’s focus on extraction leaves its earnings heavily dependent on global oil prices, which averaged about 3% less in 2024 on-year. But it also means the company is relatively unaffected by headwinds to demand faced by downstream peers. Earlier this week, China’s biggest top, Sinopec, reported a tumble in profits as the electric-vehicle boom weighs on fuel consumption.
CNOOC Ltd. has achieved first oil in the second-phase development of the Luda 5-2 North field in the Bohai Sea, the fourth project it announced to have been started up in China this year.
The project is located in central Bohai Bay, with an average water depth of approximately 20 meters. The main production facilities include a new central processing platform and an unmanned wellhead platform.
Producing light crude, the development is expected to reach 22,300 barrels of oil equivalent a day in peak production this year. Bozhong 26-6, which has an average water depth of about 20 meters (65.62 feet), holds over 200 million cubic meters (7.06 billion cubic feet) of proven oil and gas in place, according to the state-backed company.
Chinese state-held oil and gas giant CNOOC is keeping its capital expenditure flat this year compared to 2024 as it lowered its oil and gas production growth target, although it still expects annual output records going forward.
The oil and gas explorer and producer added, “In recent years, CNOOC Limited has been continually tapping the resource potentials of the Yinggehai-Qiongdongnan Basin, to fully utilize the existing production facilities and thereby reduce the development cost of new projects”.