The Lufeng 14-4 central platform, China's largest independently designed and constructed offshore crude oil production platform, has completed float-over installation in the South China Sea, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) announced on May 19.
It marked new progress in the country's large-scale offshore oil and gas equipment construction and installation capabilities.
Consisting of an upper block and a jacket, the 218-meter high platform weighs nearly 30,000 tons and stands firm in the 145-meter deep ocean. Its weight exceeds that of three Eiffel Towers.
The platform is scheduled to start operations by the end of 2021 and will serve the development of the Lufeng 14-4 and 14-8 oilfields to provide more oil resources to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
The development will be the first time that China can exploit its deep-sea low-permeability oil fields, a process which presents great difficulties.
CNOOC plans to launch a joint development of the Lufeng oilfield cluster and adopt the first manual water injection method in the South China Sea, which is expected to improve development effectiveness.
The float-over installation of the Lufeng 14-4 central platform, China's largest independently designed and constructed offshore crude oil production platform, is underway. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)
