China's self-developed deep-water offshore jacket platform "Haiji No.1" - also the deepest in Asia - was into operation on Monday, signaling that the country has successfully developed a new model for deploying mega jacket platform equipment in drilling offshore oil and gas.

The "Haiji No.1" platform is located in eastern oilfields in the South China Sea, and is installed under 286 meters deep in the sea, with a total height of 340.5 meters and a weight over 40,000 tons. 

This is a new record in terms of both height and weight for a single oil production platform, according to a statement on the official Wechat account of the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) on Monday. CNOOC is the developer and designer of the "Haiji No.1" platform.

Jacket platforms are the most widely used offshore oil and gas production facilities worldwide, and are mostly used in shallow water drilling. Over 1,000 jacket platforms have been deployed around the world, but only 10 units are drilling under 280 meters in the sea, the CNOOC said. 

In China, jacket platforms operated at a water depth less than 200 meters except the "Haiji No.1" platform, which adopts a model of combing "floating production unit with underwater production system." It marks the first time that China exploits offshore oil and gas employing such model, which could significantly bring down engineering cost and boost oil recovery and economic efficiency.

A total of five production wells drilled by the "Haiji No.1" platform began operating on Monday. They have a designed daily output of 2,700 tons at the initial stage. 

CNOOC will also use the platform to explore two adjacent oilfields, and it is expected that a total of 14 production wells and three water injection wells will be developed, with a daily oil output peaking at 5,000 tons after all the wells are put into operation. This will also boost development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

CNOOC said that the equipment is designed to withstand extreme once-in-a-century sea conditions and that its team made technological breakthroughs in a number of difficulties such as strong internal water wave as well as giant sand waves and ridges on the ocean floor.

The construction of "Haiji No.1" platform began in March 2020 and was installed in April. 

China has been fast tracking deep-sea oil and gas exploration in the past decade. In 2021, the Shenhai Yihao (DeepSea No. 1), the world's first 100,000-ton deep-sea semi-submersible oil production and storage platform, was put into operation, signaling that China's offshore oil and gas exploration capacity had entered the "ultra deepwater" era. 

As of September 22, the DeepSea No. 1 has produced more than 2.9 billion cubic meters of gas and 300,000 cubic meters of crude oil, contributing to energy security in South China's Hainan Province and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, according to a CCTV report.

Global Times