Chinese oil and gas giant CNOOC Limited has produced first gas from the Liuhua 29-2 gas field located in the South China Sea.
CNOOC said on Thursday that a new subsea wellhead has been built, with one development well planned, which will fully utilize the existing production facilities of Liwan 3-1 gas field and other deepwater gas fields.
According to the company, it is expected to reach peak production of approximately 41 million cubic feet of natural gas per day in 2021.
It is worth noting that CNOOC Limited holds a 100 per cent interest in the Liuhua 29-2 gas field and acts as the operator.
Liuhua 29-2 is located in the eastern South China Sea, 300 kilometres southeast of Hong Kong, with an average water depth of around 750 metres. It is also the third deepwater offshore platform development for CNOOC.
The Liwan gas project, to which the Liuhua 29-2 field is connected, is located in Block 29/26 and is China’s first deepwater gas field development.
Situated in water depth up to 1,500 meters, Liwan offshore gas field was discovered in 2006 and has been in production since March 2014.
The $6.5 billion Liwan gas project comprises three natural gas fields that include the already producing Liwan 3-1, Liuhua 34-2, and the Liuhua 29-1 field development. It includes a shared shallow water subsea production system tied back to an onshore gas processing facility on the Gaoland Island.
Husky Energy holds a 49 per cent interest in Liwan 3-1 and Liuhua 34-2 fields and operates the deepwater infrastructure of the fields, while CNOOC holds a 51 per cent interest and operates the shallow water infrastructure of the project.
The Liuhua 29-1 gas field started production in November 2020. It is expected to reach peak production of around 62 million cubic feet of natural gas per day in 2022.
CNOOC has a 25 per cent working interest in Liuhua 29-1 gas field and acts as the operator in shallow water, while Husky Oil holds the remaining 75 per cent working interest and is the operator in deep water.
Just recently, CNOOC noted a production increase in the first quarter of the year driven by new project start-ups.
The company achieved a total net production of 137.7 million boe for the first quarter of 2021, representing an increase of 4.7 per cent year-over-year.
According to the company, this was mainly attributable to production growth from the beginning of new projects, such as Liuhua 16-2/20-2 and Lvda 16-3/21-2 , net production from China increased by 8.7 per cent YoY to 94.7 million boe. For the new projects planned this year, the Caofeidian 6-4 oilfield started production.