China National Offshore Oil Corporation Limited (CNOOC) have announced that the Caofeidian 6-4 oilfield, located in the Midwest of Bohai, has commenced production.
CNOOC holds a 100% interest in the oilfield, which has an average water depth of about 20m, and acts as the operator. In addition to fully utilising the existing processing facilities of Nanpu 35-2 oilfield and Qinhuangdao 32-6 oilfield, a new central platform has been built on the field as part of the project. A total of 42 development wells are planned, including 30 production wells, 12 water injection wells and water source wells. The project is expected to reach its peak production of approximately 15,000 barrels of crude oil per day in 2023.
Guided by the vision of green development, Caofeidian 6-4 oilfield will actively promote green and low-carbon production. After putting into production, the project will achieve zero discharge of production and living sewage into the sea. With the introduction of onshore power engineering, it is estimated that about 16,000 tons of standard coal will be saved, and about 40,000 tons of carbon dioxide will be reduced annually.
Sustaining a strong performance
The news surrounding the Caofeidian 6-4 oilfield closely follows the release of CNOOC’s 2021 business plan and strategic strategy which provided a brief overview of its performance last year. Against the challenges caused by Covid-19, such as the huge impact from low oil price, the company invested a great deal into further reducing costs and enhancing efficiency, promoting reform and innovation, ensuring safety in production and above all growing its oil and gas reserves and production. As a result of this, CNOOC recorded a net production record high of approximately 528mnboe in 2020.
Following this, the company is seeking to strengthen this resource base even further and has planned to drill 217 exploration wells and collect approximately 17,000 sq km of 3D seismic data. Additionally, CNOOC expects 19 new projects to come on stream, such as the Lingshui 17-2 gas fields development, the Lufeng oilfields regional development, the Buzzard oilfield phase II in the UK and Mero I oilfield in Brazil. CNOOC is targeting a net production of 545-555mnboe in 2021 and estimates it will achieve 590-600mnboe and 640-650mnboe in 2022 and 2023 respectively as a result of these ventures.
Xu Keqiang, CEO of CNOOC, said, “In 2021, under the theme of high-quality development, the Company will be committed to steadily increasing its oil and gas reserves and production, focusing on investment efficiency, maintaining its cost competitiveness, while actively pursuing the concept of green and low-carbon development, to create excellent returns for our shareholders.”
With the Caofeidian 6-4 oilfield commencing production, and potentially reaching a peak production of 15,000 barrels of crude oil per day by 2023, it appears CNOOC have made a strong start in their attempts to meet their forthcoming targets over the next few years.
