Advance Into The Deep Sea

On the "Nanhai No. 7" drilling platform, drilling and completion technology expert Liu Shujie (fourth from left in the front row) and workers celebrated the first installation of my country's first domestically produced deepwater subsea Christmas tree equipment.

In the waters of Yinggehai, Hainan, China, the "Nanhai No. 7" drilling platform stands steadily. At present, CNOOC has built the largest offshore natural gas production cluster in China in the waters surrounding Hainan Island.

Drilling and completion technical experts and engineers inspected localized deepwater subsea tree equipment.

The helicopter slowly rose from the "Nanhai No. 7" drilling platform, and the workers were waving goodbye to a group of colleagues returning to the city after a shift. Due to the special working environment on the drilling platform, workers can only change shifts every 28 days.

At the CNOOC Nanshan Terminal in Sanya, Hainan, workers work under the sunset. This is the first stop for deep-sea oil and gas to land on Hainan Island, and it is also the logistics support base to ensure and support deep-sea oil and gas resource exploration and development operations.

At the CNOOC Deep Sea Deep Energy Engineering Key Laboratory, engineers conduct sealing inspections on deep sea oil and gas exploration and development equipment.

A helicopter view of drilling platforms and support ships in the sea.

After the domestically produced Christmas tree is in place in the moon pool, engineers are conducting the final inspection before launching it into the water for installation. This is the first installation of my country's first domestically produced deepwater subsea tree equipment, marking a key step in the development of key technical equipment for my country's deepwater oil and gas development.

At the CNOOC Nanshan terminal in Sanya, Hainan, an operator inspects the offshore section of the submarine pipeline. This is the connecting pipeline between the deep sea and the land plant. After the oil and gas transmitted back are processed by the plant and qualified, it will provide clean energy for the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port.

In the early morning of December 31, 2023, at the CNOOC Nanshan Terminal in Sanya, Hainan, two employees were carefully inspecting a long white pipeline. Through this sea-land pipeline connecting the "Nanhai No. 7" drilling platform and the Nanshan terminal, oil and gas are transmitted back from the deep sea to provide clean energy for the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port.

At the underwater production system testing base in Chengmai, Hainan, drilling and completion technology expert Liu Shujie and engineers are debugging deep-sea oil and gas exploration and development equipment. They continue to focus on the localization of technologies such as the design, construction, and debugging of deep-water subsea trees. tackle key problems.

The underwater Christmas tree is the core integrated equipment of the underwater mining system in the oil and gas industry. It is like an intelligent "faucet" at the wellhead of the oil and gas field, controlling the speed of oil and gas extraction. For a long time, the design and manufacturing technology of this system has been dependent on imports.

On May 11, 2022, my country's first set of domestically produced deepwater underwater trees was successfully installed on the seabed, marking a key step in the development of key technical equipment for my country's deepwater oil and gas development.

Since 2013, CNOOC has led more than ten domestic enterprises and scientific research institutes to continuously tackle key problems. After ten years, it has achieved major breakthroughs in ultra-deep water drilling and completion technology, and achieved a series of innovative results such as the research and development of underwater Christmas tree integration technology, supporting The development of the "Deep Sea No. 1" gas field, China's first self-operated ultra-deep water gas field, and the establishment of relevant technical systems marked the realization of full independent control over the development of my country's ultra-deep water gas fields.

At present, CNOOC has built the largest offshore natural gas production cluster in China consisting of 16 offshore platforms, 3 land terminals and several underwater production units in Hainan's Lingshui, Dongfang, Ledong, Yacheng and Wenchang waters. In addition to the gas used for people's livelihood and industry on the island, it also supplies gas to Zhuhai and other places through a submarine pipeline with a length of more than 700 kilometers to meet the continuously growing energy demand of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.