CNOOC Ltd. has achieved first oil in the second-phase development of the Luda 5-2 North field in the Bohai Sea, the fourth project it announced to have been started up in China this year.
Producing heavy crude, Luda 5-2 North phase 2 is expected to reach about 6,700 barrels of oil equivalent a day (boed) in peak production next year, CNOOC Ltd. said in a press release.
Luda 5-2 North phase 1 went onstream some three years ago as the first Chinese oilfield to produce from super-heavy oil reservoirs through thermal recovery, according to CNOOC Ltd., majority-owned by the state’s China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC). It gave a peak production of around 8,200 barrels per day (bpd) of crude when it announced start-up April 23, 2022.
Phase 2 is in the central part of the Bohai Sea in the northeast of mainland China. It has an average water depth of approximately 30 meters (98.43 feet), according to CNOOC Ltd.
The oil and gas exploration and production company built a new auxiliary production platform and one production wellhead platform. CNOOC Ltd. eyes to develop 29 wells, of which 28 are for production and one is for water access.
“CNOOC Limited made major technological breakthroughs in this project and significantly enhanced the development efficiency of offshore super heavy oil”, the 100 percent owner said.
“Through optimized Jet Pump Injection-Production Technology, the project realized efficient and economic development of heavy crude, which could further enhance the Company’s energy supply capacity”, CNOOC Ltd. added.
This is CNOOC Ltd.’s second start-up announcement for the Bohai Sea this year. In total, it has announced four start-ups in China and one overseas in 2025.
Bozhong 26-6, in Bohai Bay, could reach 22,300 boed in peak production this year, CNOOC Ltd. said February 7 announcing the start-up of what it called the globe’s largest buried metamorphic hill oilfield.
Bozhong 26-6, which has an average water depth of about 20 meters, holds over 200 million cubic meters (7.06 billion cubic feet) of proven oil and gas in place, according to the company, which claims to be China’s top offshore producer of petroleum and natural gas.
CNOOC Ltd. noted, “As one of the demonstration CCUS [carbon capture, utilization and storage] projects of the Company in Bohai, it adopts advanced technology to capture and separate the associated carbon dioxide from crude oil extraction and reinject back into the formation to drive the oil, thereby increasing production while reducing emissions”.
CNOOC Ltd., the field’s sole developer, expects the CCUS component to bury about 1.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide throughout Bozhong 26-6’s life cycle.
“The successful commencement of production of Bozhong 26-6 Oilfield Development Project (Phase I) marks a new stage for the Company in the development of offshore deep play complicated buried hill oil and gas reservoirs as well as the construction of the Bohai CCUS base”, commented CNOOC Ltd. president Yan Hongtao.
“It bolsters the Company’s energy supply capacity and low-carbon development in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and Bohai Rim regions”.
The other two Chinese projects are the Panyu 11-12/10-1/10-2 Oilfield Adjustment Joint Development Project and the Dongfang 29-1 gas field, both in the South China Sea.
On Monday CNOOC Ltd. and Petróleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) announced production commencement in the Búzios7 project, which they expect will raise production in the Búzios oilfield offshore Brazil to as much as one million bpd by the second half of 2025.
CNOOC Ltd. also expects to start production at the Kenli 10-2 Oilfields Development Project Phase I in China and the Yellowtail Project in Guyana this year, according to its 2025 plan published January 22.
The plan declared a goal to raise net production to over 2 million boed in 2025.
Output in 2024 is expected to have totaled 720 million boe, marking a sixth consecutive year of record highs, CNOOC Ltd. said then. It put the total volume goal for 2025 between 760 million boe and 780 million boe, of which 69 percent is to come from China.
For 2026 it will aim for 780-800 million boe. For 2027 the target is 810-830 million boe.
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