Mega metamorphic rock oilfield begins production in China

CNOOC Limited announced on Friday that the Bozhong 26-6 oilfield development project (phase I) has commenced production.

Located in central Bohai Bay, with an average water depth of approximately 20 meters, the project, which is also the world's largest metamorphic buried hill oilfield with cumulative proven oil and gas in-place of over 200 million cubic meters, is expected to achieve a peak production of approximately 22,300 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2025. The oil property is light crude, it said.

The main production facilities include a new central processing platform and an unmanned wellhead platform. A total of 33 development wells are planned to be commissioned, including 22 production wells, 10 gas injection wells and a water source well, it added.

As one of the demonstration CCUS projects of the company in Bohai, it adopts advanced technology to capture and separate the associated carbon dioxide from crude oil extraction and reinject it back into the formation to drive the oil, thereby increasing production while reducing emissions. The project is expected to bury approximately 1.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide throughout its life cycle.

"The successful commencement of production of the Bozhong 26-6 oilfield development project (phase I) marks a new stage for the company in the development of offshore deep play complicated buried hill oil and gas reservoirs as well as the construction of the Bohai CCUS base," said Yan Hongtao, the president of CNOOC Limited.

"It bolsters the company's energy supply capacity and low-carbon development in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and Bohai Rim regions."

CNOOC Limited holds 100 percent interest in this project and is the operator.