Photo taken on May 12, 2021 shows the Deep Sea No.1 deep-water gas field, 150 kilometers off the city of Sanya in south China's Hainan Province. Deep Sea No.1, China's first self-operated 1,500-meter deep-water gas field, started production on Friday, according to the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC). (Photo/Xinhua)
China's first self-operated deep-water gas field exploration platform Deep Sea No.1, built by the China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), officially entered operation on Monday after completion of its last production well, demonstrating China's attainments in ocean gas and oil exploration, the company announced on Monday.
The Deep Sea No.1 can provide over 3 billion cubic meters (bcm) of deep-water natural gas annually to South China's Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and Hainan Province, which will play a strategic role in the country's energy supplies.
The Deep Sea No.1 gas field is located 150 kilometers from Sanya in the southern region of Hainan. It was discovered in 2014, with natural gas reserves exceeding 100 bcm.
Its average exploration depth is 1,500 meters, and its deepest well is more than 4,000 meters below the sea surface, according to a document from CNOOC sent to the Global Times on Monday.
You Xuegang, program manager for Deep Sea No.1, said the development of the field was being separated into east and west phases. The west phase entered full operation on June 25.
The related power station is a domestically built production platform, which is the world's first gas production and storage platform in the 100,000-ton class. Its construction was completed in May, and it entered operation at the end of June.
The construction of the east phase was completed in early August. The gas from Deep Sea No.1 has been transmitted to a processing station in Gaolan, South China's Guangdong Province that's connected to the national natural gas network.
The full operation of Deep Sea No.1 will boost exploration of surrounding deep-water gas fields, and the scale of natural gas transmission and exploration will be maximized, based on the sophisticated natural gas pipeline network that exists among the GBA and Hainan Free Trade Zone, said CNOOC.
Wang Dongjin, Chairman of CNOOC, said the company will enhance the research of original technologies and the expansion of the industry chains of ocean gas and oil, while increasing China's natural gas capacity and its transformation into a green energy source.
