Construction of Asia's First Deepwater Jacket Completed

China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) announced on Feb 28 that construction of Haiji One, Asia's first deepwater jacket independently designed and developed by China, was completed. The jacket is expected to improve deepsea oil and gas development capacity.

Acting as the base of the fixed offshore oil and gas platform, the jacket is used to support the huge and heavy platform and is the most widely used facility in offshore oil and gas exploration around the world. It has a large deck area and a safe and reliable structure, and can carry a large and varied load. Various kinds of equipment such as drilling rigs, workover rigs and dry wellheads can also be set up.

A view of the Haiji One jacket [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

According to Gao Shuang, project manager for regional development of CNOOC's Lufeng oilfield cluster, China's offshore oil and gas exploration and development has targeted deepwater areas in recent years.

The Haiji One jacket has a production system above the water surface that is different from other facilities of its kind, which means it has low costs of drilling and subsequent production operations.

Its production mode is of great significance in economically and effectively developing oil and gas in mid-depth waters of 200 to 400 meters in the South China Sea.

The Haiji One jacket is to be installed offshore in late March. At present, technical plans of jacket loading, shipment and offshore installation have passed expert review.

(Executive editor: Niu Yilin)