China’s new South China Sea oil rig helps it drill deep for energy security
- New deep-sea mobile operation can reportedly drill to a depth of 9,085 metres, a record for China
- Beijing has been stepping up efforts to reduce the nation’s dependence on imported oil and gas amid escalating geopolitical uncertainties
China has commenced operation of its deepest mobile oil rig in the northern rim of South China Sea, to extract marginal resources amid its growing emphasis on energy security and technological self-reliance.
The offshore home-grown rig is located in the Enping oilfield, about 200km (124 miles) southwest of Shenzhen city, state broadcaster CCTV said on Saturday.
Developed by the state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), the rig has a drilling capacity of 9,085 metres, with 8,689 metres being horizontal, making it the deepest and longest China has drilled, the report said.
The oil rig, dubbed the Enping 21-4 A1H wellhead platform, can produce 700 tonnes of oil per day after testing, CCTV said.
China’s leadership has been stepping up efforts to reduce its dependence on imported oil and gas amid escalating geopolitical uncertainties, including exploring more local oil resources and upgrading its oil-extraction technology.
The Enping oilfield is a marginal field with thin reservoirs and a remote location, making it challenging to achieve sufficient net income and meet profitability targets under traditional vertical drilling methods.
CNOOC has applied horizontal drilling technology to access oilfields more than 8km away, to overcome these extraction barriers and save costs, according to Guo Yongbin, chief engineer of the company’s Shenzhen branch.
“By applying this [horizontal drilling] technology, we can access oil and gas resources within 10km of this oil rig in the future, which will significantly improve the efficiency of China’s oil and gas field development,” Guo was quoted by the state broadcaster as saying.
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