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World's first 100,000-ton deep-sea semi-submersible oil platform ready for production
By Global Times Published: Jun 27, 2021 01:31 PM
Photo taken on May 12, 2021 shows the Deep Sea No.1 energy station at the Lingshui 17-2 gas field off south China's island province of Hainan. The Lingshui 17-2 gas field is China's first deep-water self-operated gas field, with an average operational water depth of 1,500 meters.(Photo: Xinhua)

Photo taken on May 12, 2021 shows the "Deep Sea No.1" energy station at the Lingshui 17-2 gas field off south China's island province of Hainan. The Lingshui 17-2 gas field is China's first deep-water self-operated gas field, with an average operational water depth of 1,500 meters.(Photo: Xinhua)


 
Shenhai Yihao (DeepSea No. 1), the world's first 100,000-ton deep-sea semi-submersible oil production and storage platform as well as China's first self-developed, specially designed mothership for manned submersible Jiaolong, was put into operation on Friday. 

The energy station has successfully completed the installation of all equipment on May 31 and is estimated to bring an annual output of more than 3 billion cubic meters of natural gas. Its commission marks a major progress in China's deep-sea oil and gas exploration and development from a water depth of 300 meters to 1,500 meters, China Central Television reported Thursday. 

The energy station will be used to develop the “Deep-sea No 1” gas field, which was discovered in August 2014 in the Lingshui area in the South China Sea, with a maximum depth of 1,500 meters. It is the first major oil and gas discovery made from China's self-operated deep-water exploration. 

China National Offshore Oil Corporation officially started the substantive engineering construction work of the gas field in 2018. 

The difficulty of the development and the complexity of the construction of the facilities of the “Deep-sea No 1” gas field is second to none in offshore oil development, said You Xuegang, manager of the project. 

During the installation of the energy station, three world-class innovations and 13 domestically initiated technologies were adopted, setting a record in the construction speed of similar platforms around the world, he said. 

The gas field can meet one quarter of gas demand in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area by delivering clean energy from the deep sea through the underwater pipeline around Hainan Island. It will become a new energy supply center in the South China Sea.