CNOOC discovers Kaiping South oilfield in South China Sea with over 100 mil mt proven volume

Chinese offshore company CNOOC has made an oilfield discovery of Kaiping South in deepwater South China Sea estimated to add over 100 million mt of oil equivalent proven in-place volume, it said March 8.

The discovery well KP18-1-1d was tested to produce an average 7,680 b/d of crude oil and 520 Mcf/d of natural gas, leading the proved in-place volume of Kaiping South Oilfield to reach 102 million mt of oil equivalent, according to the CNOOC statement.

The Kaiping South oilfield is located in the eastern South China Sea, with an average depth of 500 m. The main oil-bearing plays are Zhuhai Formation, Enping Formation and Wenchang Formation of Paleogene and the oil property is light crude. The discovery well was drilled and completed at a depth of 3,462 m, which encountered a total of 100.6 m oil and gas pay zones, the company said.

"In recent years, CNOOC has achieved remarkable breakthroughs in oil and gas exploration in the eastern South China Sea, building a new growth pole for offshore oil and gas production. The company remains committed to oil and gas resources exploration and development in the South China Sea, thereby continuously enhancing its energy supply capacity," Zhou Xinhuai, CEO and president of the company, said.

Offshore oil has been the main contributor of China's crude production growth since 2020.

Guangdong province, where the Kaiping South oilfield is located, was the second biggest contributor to China's total crude production growth by volume in 2023, just following the home of offshore Bohai oilfield -- Tianjin city. Guangdong's crude production rose 23,000 b/d or 6% year on year to 401,000 b/d in 2023, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. In comparison, China's crude output rose 84,000 b/d or 2% year on year, the NBS data showed.

CNOOC's Energy Economics Institute forecast that China's offshore oil production will peak at 70 million-80 million mt (1.41 million-1.61 million b/d) by around 2045 before slowly declining, while the share of offshore production is projected to rise to more than 40% in 2060 from less than 25% in 2020.