China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has revealed a record cumulative production of nine billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas and more than 900,000m³ of crude oil from the Deep Sea #1 field.
Production from the field is set to rise further as CNOOC, China’s third-largest national oil company, completes the second phase of the field’s development.
The field is China's first independently developed and independently built ultra-deep water gas field, and began operations in June 2021.
According to several media reports, Phase 2 would focus on the gas reserves at the field, situated in the South China Sea, with CNOOC hoping to eventually tap into reserves of 50bcm of natural gas.
CNOOC recently announced that it had achieved a milestone in ultra-deep water natural gas exploration by drilling a well in the Liwan 4-1 structure within the Pearl River Mouth Basin.
The company said earlier this year that this well represents the first substantial exploration success in ultra-deep water carbonate rocks offshore China.
