China's state-owned oil and gas firm China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has announced its deepwater Lingshui 36-1 gas field in the South China Sea boasts proven reserves of more than 100 billion cubic meters (bcm).
CNOOC said the field is the first large-size ultra-shallow gas field in ultra-deep water in the world, which opens up a new area of exploration in deep waters.
Lingshui 36-1 gas field is located in the southern portion of the Central Sag, Qiongdongnan Basin. The average water depth of the gas field is approximately 1,500 meters, and the burial depth is 210 meters, making it a typical ultra-deep-water ultra-shallow gas field. The field has been tested to produce over 10 million cubic meters per day of absolute open flow natural gas.
The company has been searching for oil and gas resources in the South China Sea for decades. Multiple large-size gas fields have been discovered in Yinggehai, Qiongdongnan and Pearl River Mouth basins, namely Dongfang 1-1, Liwan 3-1, Lingshui 17-2, Baodao 21-1 and now, Lingshui 36-1.
By far, the total proven gas in-place in the region has exceeded one trillion cubic meters.
"Ultra-shallow gas reservoirs are important sources of hydrocarbon in deep waters. However, you must overcome world-class challenges to explore and develop the reservoirs. CNOOC has adopted new exploration concepts on the formation mechanism and new technological approaches to tackle the challenges,” said Xu Changgui, Chief Geologist for CNOOC.
"The newly discovered ultra-deep-water ultra-shallow gas field is an important composition of the trillion-cubic-meters gas region in the South China Sea.
“The completion of the trillion-cubic-meters gas region embodies the enormous achievements CNOOC has accomplished in the South China Sea in the past 40 years. We have now embarked on a new journey to further expand the resource base of the company,” added Zhou Xinhuai, CEO and President of CNOOC.