Recently, Zhanjiang Branch of CNOOC (China) Co., Ltd. has successfully tested Ledong 10-1-13, an ultra-high temperature and ultra-high pressure exploration well in Yingge Haile East 10 area. Previously, the well drilled more than 100 meters of gas reservoirs. New breakthroughs have been made in the exploration of “Shuangchao” area in the western South China Sea. This is what Hainan Daily reporters learned from CNOOC on the 16th.

Looking back in 2018, oil and gas exploration in the west of the South China Sea has achieved a bumper harvest, and the reserves assessment index has been overfulfilled. Five commercial and potential commercial discoveries, six successful evaluations and three large and medium-sized oil and gas fields have been found. From crude oil to natural gas, from ultra-high temperature and pressure to deep water, exploration in Western South China Sea has blossomed at many points, breaking the silence of breakthroughs in Lingshui 17-2 gas field after its discovery, and forming a new peak of oil and gas reserves growth.

According to reports, CNOOC has four major oil and gas producing areas in China’s offshore: Bohai Bay, the western South China Sea, the eastern South China Sea and the East China Sea. Among them, the western South China Sea is rich in oil and gas resources. Since 1980s, a number of oil and gas fields have been discovered, and tens of millions of tons of oil and gas production capacity have been built. Entering the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, Zhanjiang Branch of CNOOC has strengthened geological research and technical tackling, effectively promoting oil and gas exploration. During the Twelfth Five-Year Plan period, 11 oil and gas fields were discovered in this area, and proved oil and gas reserves exceeded the sum of the Tenth Five-Year Plan and the Eleventh Five-Year Plan. Especially in natural gas exploration, many gas fields, such as Lingshui 17-2, have been discovered, and the exploration reserves of natural gas in the future are the sum of the previous 30 years. At the beginning of the 13th Five-Year Plan, because the geological conditions in the field of exploration are becoming more and more complex, the difficulty of exploration is increasing, and it is difficult to find more discoveries. In this regard, Zhanjiang Branch of CNOOC further strengthens theoretical research and technological innovation, and achieves good exploration results.

In 2018, two medium-sized and high-quality oilfields were harvested in crude oil exploration in the western South China Sea. Guided by the innovative knowledge of “low-angle fault reservoir control” and “sandy clastic flow lithologic trap”, we deepened the integrated operation of rolling exploration and development, deployed exploration wells between the two developed oilfields and implemented a medium-sized oilfield in the high-maturity exploration area of Weinan, Beibuwan Bay. In Wushi Depression of Beibuwan Bay, the first large-scale oil and gas discovery was made in Xiayang Formation of Wushi area, and another medium-sized oil field was implemented. In Wenchang exploration area of Pearl River Mouth Basin, rolling exploration was carried out and commercial discoveries were harvested.

In the same year, gas exploration in the western South China Sea was gratifying. In Ledong 10-1 area in the field of ultra-high temperature and high pressure, the evaluation well Ledong 10-1-6 drilled 133 meters gas reservoir, creating the thickest single well discovery gas reservoir record, single well exploration and the largest third-class reserves record in the basin. The evaluation of Ledong 10-1 area is successful and shows great potential for natural gas exploration. On December 25, 2018, Zhanjiang Branch of China National Offshore Oil Co., Ltd. deployed Ledong 10-1-13, an ultra-high temperature and ultra-high pressure exploration well in Yingge Haile East 10 area, and made a new breakthrough in the field of “double supersonic” exploration in the western South China Sea. In the deep-water eastern area of Qiongdongnan Basin, CNOOC has drilled two exploration wells and obtained two potential commercial discoveries, which confirmed the Songnan-Baodao hydrocarbon-rich depression in the deep-water Eastern area, expanded two sets of new reservoir-forming assemblages, and pushed deep-water exploration into the fast lane again.

At the same time, China National Offshore Oil Co., Ltd. Zhanjiang Branch has set off a new upsurge in foreign cooperative exploration. Six petroleum contracts were signed in 2018, which set a new 11-year high in the western South China Sea. The imported exploration investment is particularly significant, which will greatly boost the exploration process in the western South China Sea.