World's First Smart Deepwater Drilling Platform Starts Operation

Shenlan Tansuo, the world's first smart deepwater drilling platform, has gone into operation at the Pearl River Mouth Basin in the South China Sea, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) announced on Sept 9.

Its operation is an example of key progress in China's smart deepwater oil and gas equipment development.

The platform has a maximum operation depth of 1,000 meters and a maximum drilling depth of 9,144 meters. It has been certified by Det Norske Veritas (DNV) as the first platform of its kind in the world, and is also the world's newest semi-submersible drilling platform.

It is designed to operate in the  hydrological and climatic environment of the South China Sea and can be used for oil and gas exploration and development in deepwater areas, as well as high temperature and pressure strata and ultra-deep buried strata.

According to CNOOC, the platform's main and supporting wellheads can be operated simultaneously, improving its comprehensive operating efficiency by 35 percent compared with conventional single wellhead operation.

The platform is expected to enhance the country's oil and gas exploration and development capabilities in deepwater areas.

China has complete independent intellectual property rights to the platform.

(Executive editor: Niu Yilin)