100-million-mt Kenli 10-2 Oilfield Expected to Start Production Within the Year; Bohai Oilfield Strives to Achieve Annual Production Target of 40 Million mt

"Another 100-million-mt oilfield in the Bohai Sea—the three production platforms of Kenli 10-2 Oilfield are undergoing offshore commissioning and are expected to commence production within the year," a representative from CNOOC told a Caixin reporter.

Recently, a Caixin reporter visited the Tianjin Branch of China National Offshore Oil Corporation (hereinafter referred to as "CNOOC") and learned that the Bohai Oilfield under the company is actively increasing reserves and production, striving to achieve the goal of producing 40 million mt of oil and gas equivalent annually.

In Q1, the oil and gas production of the Bohai Oilfield historically exceeded 10 million mt in a single quarter.

In mid-June, the Bohai Sea was shrouded in a thin mist, with glittering blue waves.

This vast and azure inland sea of China is rich in oil and gas resources. In the central part of the Bohai Sea, more than 100 kilometers from the coastline, lies the first 100-billion-cubic-meter gas field in the Bohai Sea—the Bozhong 19-6 Gas Field.

Early in the morning, a group of Caixin reporters boarded a helicopter at the Tanggu Airport in Tianjin heading to the drilling platform of the Bozhong 19-6 Gas Field. After nearly 40 minutes of flight, through the aircraft window, they saw a "string of five stars" emerging in the vast sea. Staff informed the reporters that the five platforms, including the central platform and wellhead platform of the Bozhong 19-6 Gas Field, have formed an oil and gas production cluster in the "string of five stars" pattern, integrating "oilfield + gas field + shore power."

The 19-6 Gas Field is the first 100-billion-cubic-meter gas field in the Bohai Oilfield. During the interview, the Caixin reporter also learned that the Bohai Oilfield was established in 1965. After 60 years of development, it has now built approximately 60 oil and gas fields in production, with over 200 production facilities. It is currently the largest offshore oil and gas production base in China that integrates exploration and development, engineering construction, and production operations.

A relevant staff member from CNOOC told the reporter that since 2019, the Bohai Oilfield has vigorously increased reserves and production, with oil and gas output continuing to rise. The daily crude oil production has exceeded the 100,000 mt mark, accounting for nearly one-sixth of the national crude oil production. Since the beginning of this year, the oil and gas production of the Bohai Oilfield has continued to maintain a steady upward trend. Multiple key capacity-building projects, including the Bozhong 26-6 Oilfield Development Project (Phase I), the world's largest metamorphic buried hill oilfield; the Lvda 5-2 North Oilfield Phase II Development Project, the first ultra-heavy oil thermal recovery development oilfield offshore China; and the Caofeidian 6-4 Oilfield Comprehensive Adjustment Project, have been put into production one after another. In Q1 of this year, the oil and gas production of the Bohai Oilfield historically exceeded 10 million mt in a single quarter.

In addition, the aforementioned staff member also told the reporter that another 100-million-mt oilfield in the Bohai Sea—the three production platforms of Kenli 10-2 Oilfield are undergoing offshore commissioning and are expected to commence production within the year. This will add further momentum to the Bohai Oilfield's new leap in achieving 40 million mt of production in 2025, further enhancing the energy supply capability to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the Bohai Rim area.

The "Shenhai-1" project has produced over 10 billion m³ of natural gas in total.

Innovation in deep-sea science and technology is also a focal point for investors interested in CNOOC.

The deep sea holds the largest undeveloped resource base on Earth. According to data from the International Energy Agency (IEA), 70% of global oil and gas resources are located in the ocean, with 44% distributed in deepwater and ultra-deepwater areas at depths exceeding 300 meters.

Currently, the exploration rate of global deepwater oil and gas resources is relatively low. Data from S&P (Standard & Poor's) as of month-end April 2025 indicates that the 2P (Two-Phase) recoverable reserves of oil and gas amount to 90.51 billion barrels of oil equivalent, with oil accounting for 51.7% and natural gas accounting for 48.3%.

A relevant staff member from CNOOC told reporters that CNOOC has established a comprehensive technical system for offshore oil and gas exploration, development, and production, breaking through key technologies in the 1,500-meter ultra-deepwater oil and gas field development engineering model. Over the past decade, with the continuous increase in investment in deepwater oil and gas exploration, CNOOC has successively made significant deepwater oil and gas discoveries, including the "Shenhai-1" gas field, the Dongfang gas field cluster, the Baodao 21-1 gas field, and the Kaiping South oil field, becoming an important area and direction for future oil and gas reserve growth and production increase.

In the development sector, the successful commissioning of the "Shenhai-1" ultra-deepwater gas field has enabled China to become the third country globally, after the US and Norway, with the capability to independently develop ultra-deepwater oil and gas resources. The "Shenhai-1" project has pioneered a new model for the economic development of ultra-deepwater gas fields under extremely harsh sea conditions, providing a Chinese solution for global deepwater oil and gas development.

A representative from CNOOC told reporters that the "Shenhai-1" project has produced over 10 billion m³ of natural gas and over 1 million m³ of condensate in total, maintaining a state of high and stable production. Meanwhile, CNOOC continues to achieve significant progress in key technological breakthroughs, including substantially improving the recovery rate of domestic offshore oil and gas fields, efficiently developing offshore low-permeability and buried-hill oil and gas fields, effectively developing thermal recovery of heavy oil, and advancing the construction of smart oil fields, thereby effectively enhancing development and production efficiency.

A relevant staff member from CNOOC told reporters that in the future, CNOOC will be guided by an innovation-driven strategy, continuing to deepen innovation in deep-sea science and technology, promoting the efficient development of offshore oil and gas resources, steadily advancing the development of the offshore new energy industry, and creating greater value for shareholders.