China's 1st large-scale, ultra-deepwater gas field opens in Hainan

Deep Sea No 1, a semi-submersible oil production and storage facility, is located in the waters off South China's Hainan province. [Photo/VCG]

Deep Sea No 1, the first large-scale, ultra-deepwater gas field independently explored and developed by China, was put into operation on Monday, said its operator, China National Offshore Oil Corp.

With a maximum operational water depth exceeding 1,500 meters and proven geological reserves of natural gas exceeding hundreds of billions of cubic meters, the gas field will play an integral part in the nation's efforts to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, the company said.

The gas field is expected to provide more than 3 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually to regions including South China's Guangdong and Hainan provinces and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and it will be able to meet one-fourth of gas demand for domestic use in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, CNOOC said.

Deep water is considered to be more than 300 meters below sea level, and at more than 1,500 meters below the sea level, it is known as ultra-deep water. The difficulty of laying undersea pipelines, a vital part of offshore oil and gas production systems, rises with increasing depths, while seabed movement, geography, pressure and temperature also pose engineering challenges, it said.