Chinese giant augments hydrocarbon production as oilfield project goes live

Chinese state-owned oil and gas giant China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has flipped the production switch on at an oilfield development project in the South China Sea.

CNOOC’s Weizhou 5-3 oilfield development project, which has now been brought on stream, is located in the Beibu Gulf Basin of the South China Sea, within an average water depth of approximately 35 meters.

The company has a 51% interest in the project, while Smart Oil Investment holds the remaining 49%. This development is expected to achieve a plateau production of approximately 10,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2026.

The Chinese player explains that the main production facility, which consists of a self-installing wellhead platform, leverages the adjacent existing facilities for development. The Weizhou 5-3 project’s oil property is medium crude.

As ten development wells are planned to be commissioned, this will entail seven production wells, two water injection wells, and one gas injection well.

The project start-up comes weeks after CNOOC began production from another development in the western Pearl River Mouth Basin and found more oil in the eastern South China Sea.