CNOOC Starts Up China's First Offshore CCS Project

CNOOC Ltd has commissioned its offshore carbon capture and storage (CCS) project, the first offshore CCS project in China, the company said in a news release.

The CCS project is an auxiliary of the Enping 15-1 oilfields development, located in the Pearl River Mouth Basin, about 190 kilometers southwest of Hong Kong, with an average water depth of approximately 80 meters and has a high carbon dioxide content, CNOOC said.

The project aims to capture and process the carbon dioxide produced from the oilfield and inject it into the saline water layer at a depth of around 800 meters under the seabed, the company said. The project can store over 1.5 million tons of carbon dioxide, which is “equivalent to planting nearly 14 million trees,” according to the news release.

CNOOC said that the successful commissioning of the project demonstrates that the company “has a complete set of technology and equipment system for the capturing, processing, injection, sequestration and monitoring of carbon dioxide at offshore oil and gas fields, which fills the gap in China's offshore carbon dioxide storage technology”.

“The successful commissioning of the Enping 15-1 oilfield CCS demonstration project will strongly support the Company’s efforts in increasing reserves and production and pursuing green and low-carbon development,” CNOOC CEO Zhou Xinhuai said. He added that the company will explore “offshore storage of onshore carbon to provide a new solution of carbon reduction for the high-emitting enterprises in the coastal areas”.

Brazil Oilfield Production Startup

In a separate statement, CNOOC said that its Buzios5 oilfield project in Brazil has begun production. The Buzios oilfield is located in the Santos Basin, southeast offshore of Brazil, with a water depth of 1,900 to 2,200 meters. According to the company, it is the largest deep-water pre-salt oilfield in the world, with current daily production of about 600,000 barrels.

Buzios5 is the fifth phase of oilfield development, the company said. It will be developed with a floating production storage and offloading unit (FPSO) and subsea production system. The project has already drilled five producing wells and five injectors, and the wells will produce up to 150,000 barrels of crude oil, 211.89 million cubic feet (six million cubic meters) of natural gas and inject 220,000 barrels of water per day, according to CNOOC.

The FPSO unit used in Buzios5 project was converted in China in July 2022 and arrived at the oilfield in February 2023. The unit can store up to 1.4 million barrels of crude oil, according to the release.

Major Oilfield Discovery

In March 2023, CNOOC said it discovered the Bozhong 26-6 oilfield in Bohai Sea east of mainland China. The oilfield brings another hundred million tons of reserves, the company said.

“The main oil-bearing play is Archean buried hill and the oil property is light crude,” it said. The well was tested to produce an average of approximately 2,040 barrels of crude oil and 11.45 million cubic feet of natural gas per day, CNOOC said.

“Bozhong 26-6 oilfield is the third oilfield discovery with hundred million tons of reserves in southern Bohai Sea after Kenli 6-1 and Kenli 10-2,” Xu Changgui, CNOOC Deputy Chief Exploration Engineer, said. “The discovery demonstrates the broad prospect of exploration for subtle buried hills in the Bohai Sea, providing important guidance for exploration in similar basins,” he added.

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