2012-05-08 13:39 XinHua
BEIJING - The first deep-water drilling rig developed in China will be put into service in the South China Sea on Wednesday,
the country's largest offshore oil producer said. The sixth-generation semi-submersible CNOOC 981 will begin operations in a sea
area 320 kilometers southeast of Hong Kong at a water depth of 1,500 meters, China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) said in
a press release. It will be the first independent deep-water oil drilling by a Chinese company, marking "a substantial step" made by
the country's deep-sea oil industry, CNOOC said.
About 70 percent of oil and gas reserves in the resource-rich South China Sea is contained in 1.54 million square km of deep-water
regions, or sea areas with depths of over 300 meters. However, most of China's current offshore oil exploration is conducted less
than 300 meters below the surface. The South China Sea is estimated to have 23 billion to 30 billion tons of oil and 16 trillion cubic
meters of natural gas, accounting for one-third of China's total oil and gas resources.
<a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=f04da2db14841112b80835.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/f04da2db14841112b80835.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
BEIJING - The first deep-water drilling rig developed in China will be put into service in the South China Sea on Wednesday,
the country's largest offshore oil producer said. The sixth-generation semi-submersible CNOOC 981 will begin operations in a sea
area 320 kilometers southeast of Hong Kong at a water depth of 1,500 meters, China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) said in
a press release. It will be the first independent deep-water oil drilling by a Chinese company, marking "a substantial step" made by
the country's deep-sea oil industry, CNOOC said.
About 70 percent of oil and gas reserves in the resource-rich South China Sea is contained in 1.54 million square km of deep-water
regions, or sea areas with depths of over 300 meters. However, most of China's current offshore oil exploration is conducted less
than 300 meters below the surface. The South China Sea is estimated to have 23 billion to 30 billion tons of oil and 16 trillion cubic
meters of natural gas, accounting for one-third of China's total oil and gas resources.
<a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=f04da2db14841112b80835.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/f04da2db14841112b80835.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
