China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has commenced production from the Bozhong 34-9 oilfield located in the south of Bohai Sea, China.
According to the Chinese national oil company, the oilfield is contained in an average water depth of 18.1m.
Apart from fully using the existing facilities of Kenli oilfield, the main production facilities include a central platform and also a wellhead platform, said the Chinese firm.
CNOOC plans to drill a total of 57 wells at the Bozhong 34-9 Oilfield, out of which 38 will be production wells, while the remaining will be water injection wells.
The Bozhong 34-9 project is anticipated to realize its peak production of nearly 22,500 barrels of crude oil per day in 2022.
CNOOC is the sole stakeholder in the Bozhong 34-9 oilfield.
The Chinese national oil company considers Bohai to be its most important crude oil producing area. The crude oil drawn from the Bohai Sea has been primarily heavy oil.
The Bohai region’s reserve and daily production volume, as of the end of 2018 were 1,229.7 million barrel of oil equivalent (Mboe) and 460,822 bpd, respectively. The figures represented nearly 24.8% of CNOOC’s total reserves, and 35.4% of its daily production, as of the end of 2018.
In 2018, CNOOC is said to have embarked on a major technology campaign with a goal to achieve stable production of 30 million tonnes from the Bohai oilfield for an additional 10 years.
As part of it, the company took up the Penglai 19-3 oilfield 1/3/8/9 comprehensive adjustment project, which was brought online in 2018. The Bozhong 34-9 oilfield and the Caofeidian 11-1/11-6 oilfields comprehensive adjustment project are also part of the company’s campaign in the region.
The Caofeidian 11-1/11-6 oilfield comprehensive adjustment project was brought into production in November 2019.
CNOOC has a production target of 520-530Mboe in 2020
Last month, CNOOC made public its plans to invest CNY85-95bn ($12.2-13.7bn) to target a net production capacity of 520-530Mboe this year.
Other than the Bozhong 34-9 oilfield, the company is expecting 10 new projects to begin production this year. The projects include the Liza oilfield phase 1 in Guyana and the phase 2 of the Buzzard oilfield in the UK.
