China's Largest Offshore HPHT Gas Field Goes into Operation

China's largest offshore high-pressure and high-temperature (HPHT) gas field project, Dongfang 13-2, recently went into operation.

According to China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), the project is designed to have a peak annual gas output of more than 3 billion cubic meters of natural gas, which is enough for 1 million people for 15 years.

The gas fields will provide natural gas to South China and Hainan province through undersea pipelines, contributing clean power to construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Hainan Free Trade Port.

The operation of the project indicated the advancement of the offshore HPHT gas field exploration and exploitation technologies developed by CNOOC in the past more than 30 years.

It also plays a role in the development of offshore oil and gas exploitation, China's strategy of becoming a strong maritime country and ensuring national energy security.

The Dongfang 13-1 and 13-2 gas fields were discovered by CNOOC in 2010 and 2012 respectively. The discovery of the two gas fields marked China became one of the few countries to master HPHT gas field exploration and development technologies.

Construction of the 13-2 gas field project started in 2015. Although with large-scale high-quality natural gas reserves, the field requires a large-scale construction and investment and has high development risks because it is located in a stratum with high temperature and high pressure.

Therefore, innovative technologies and key equipment were developed to guarantee safe and highly-efficient engineering.

(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)