CNOOC announces 100m-ton oilfield discovery in Bohai Sea

CNOOC Limited announced on Wednesday a major oilfield discovery at the Qinhuangdao 29-6 site, located in the shallow Neogene formations of the Bohai Sea, which adds over a hundred million tons of oil equivalent in-place.

The discovery well, situated in the central Bohai Sea, was drilled to a depth of 1,688 meters, where it encountered 66.7 meters of oil pay zones. Tests showed a production rate of approximately 2,560 barrels of crude oil per day, it said.

Ongoing exploration has confirmed that the proved in-place volume of the Qinhuangdao 29-6 oilfield has exceeded 100 million tons of oil equivalent, it added.

"CNOOC Limited has made a significant discovery through enhanced research on hydrocarbon migration and accumulation models in shallow Neogene slope zones, coupled with technological innovation," said Xu Changgui, chief geologist at the company.

"This achievement challenges the conventional understanding that slope areas merely serve as pathways for hydrocarbons rather than sites for substantial accumulation. It further highlights the considerable exploration potential of uplifted peripheral slopes in settings influenced by intense extensional–strike-slip faulting."

The Qinhuangdao 29-6 oilfield is the second one-hundred-million-ton-class lithological oilfield discovered in the mature exploration area of the Shijiutuo Uplift, further highlighting the value of fine exploration and consolidating the resource base for increasing reserves and production for the company, it said.

zhengxin@chinadaily.com.cn