CNOOC Grows Together with Shenzhen Special Economic Zone

This year is the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. In the past 40 years, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) witnessed the rapid development of the special economic zone and grew together with the city.

Lifeline of oil, gas development in South China Sea

A view of the Chiwan oil base in Shenzhen [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

The offshore oil industry has been bonded with Shenzhen's development since the start of the exploration of the Pearl River Mouth Basin in the 1980s.

The Ministry of Petroleum Industry built an oil and gas exploration supportive base at the Pearl River Mouth Basin and the headquarters of the South China Sea oil exploration targeted at Chiwan Bay at the Shekou peninsula in western Shenzhen in the early 1980s.

Many foreign petroleum companies also agreed that Shekou is an ideal place for a deep sea port and a supportive base for oil exploration as it is close to the offshore oil area. It was China's first economic development zone to open to the world.

Later, Shenzhen became a world-renowned offshore oil base as more and more Chinese and foreign petroleum companies settled down there. CNOOC was one of them.

The Huizhou 21-1 oil field, which went into service in September 1990, was the first of its kind to operate in the eastern South China Sea. It became the first offshore oil field with an annual output of 1 million tons two years after its operation. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

Over the past 40 years, 40 oil and gas fields were built in the eastern area of the South China Sea, setting records of annual production of more than 10 million cubic meters for 24 continuous years.

The fields have now evolved into a main lifeline for oil and gas development in the South China Sea.

So far, more than 320 million cubic meters of oil and gas have been produced. The oil and gas resources not only guarantee national energy security, but also provide strong support for construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and development of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone.

The Liuhua 11-1 oil field, China's first deepwater oil field, goes into operation in 1996. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

Clean energy's development in Dapeng Bay

CNOOC led a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import project in southeast coastal regions in the late 1990s, which was a first attempt at developing an LNG business in China. Shenzhen was selected to be the first pilot region to promote the project.

The Guangdong Dapeng LNG project, the first of its kind in China, went into operation at Dapeng Bay on June 28, 2006, which raised the curtain on large-scale use of natural gas in Guangdong.

CNOOC's LNG business now covers LNG storage, transportation and receiving as well as natural gas trades, power generation, urban natural gas supply and refueling of cars and ships.

The clean and low-carbon LNG industry continues to benefit people and the environment in Shenzhen.

CNOOC-built gas station in Longgang [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

An aerial view of CNOOC's Guangdong Dapeng LNG receiving station, China's first LNG import project [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)