CHINA DISCOVERS 100-M TON OIL DEPOSITS

TIANJIN: China National Offshore Oil Corp. (Cnooc) has announced the discovery of China’s first 100-million-ton oilfield in Bohai Bay, a sea not far away from the industrial Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

The state-owned company said the oil reserve, discovered in its selfowned Kenli 6-1 oilfield, will boost China’s energy security and the economy of regions around the sea.

It was another major discovery since the detection of 100 billion cubic meters of gas reserves in Bozhong 19-6 gas field in 2019 February, Cnooc said.

The discovery of Kenli 6-1 oilfield broke the situation that the north area of Laizhou Bay had not had commercial oil and gas discoveries for some 40 years, Xue Yongan, chief geologist of Tianjin Branch of Cnooc said.

The Kenli 6-1 oilfield can provide stable oil supply, helping Tianjin Branch achieve a target of annual output of 40 million tons, the corporation said.

Wang Dongjin, chairman of Cnooc, said the discovery of Kenli 6-1 oilfield came as Cnooc enhanced domestic oil and gas exploration.

Wang said in the future, Cnooc would put more effort into detecting medium and large-sized oilfields and more deep-water oil and gas fields, with the aim of ensuring China’s energy security.

Cnooc is the largest producer of offshore crude oil and natural gas in China and its core operation areas are Bohai, the Western South China Sea, Eastern South China Sea and East China Sea.

Overseas, the company has oil and gas assets in Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Oceania and Europe.