China's oil and gas major CNOOC announced on August 9 that its Phase I development project at the Bozhong 19-6 gas field began full production, with daily oil and gas output exceeding 5,200 tonnes of oil equivalent, or 37,960 barrels per day, state-owned media reported.
Located in the central Bohai Sea, Bozhong 19-6 is the first gas field in the Bohai region with reserves exceeding 100 billion cubic metres. Its development will help boost energy supplies in eastern China, where resources are relatively scarce, the company said.
The field has proven geological reserves of more than 200 billion cubic metres of natural gas and over 200 million cubic metres of oil liquids, according to the statement.
Its reservoirs lie more than 5,000 metres underground and are spread across a wide area, with complex geological structures that make the field significantly more difficult to develop than conventional offshore oil and gas fields.
Bozhong 19-6 has produced more than 2.8 billion cubic metres of natural gas to date and has become an important source of stable supplies for eastern China, including the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and areas surrounding the Bohai Sea.
The start of full production from Phase I comes during the peak summer demand period and will help meet household and industrial energy needs in the eastern region.
The company said that drilling for the field’s Phase II development has also begun as part of CNOOC’s strategy to develop the field in stages following initial pilot operations.
(Reporting by Sam Li and Lewis Jackson; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)