Bozhong 19-6

Bozhong 19-6 Gas and Condensate Field Profile

Location

The Bozhong 19-6 field is located in the Bozhong Sag of the South Central Bohai Bay, approximately 100 km from Bohai Bay. It is situated in shallow water, with an average depth of about 23 meters (or 75 feet).

Ownership and Operation

The field is owned and operated by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), a subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corp, which is an upstream oil and gas company involved in the exploration, development, production, and sale of crude oil and natural gas.

Reserves

The Bozhong 19-6 field holds significant proven reserves:

• 200 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas
• 200 million cubic meters (mcm) of oil This makes it the largest oil and gas discovery in the Bohai Bay area in the last 50 years and the world’s first large-scale, high-yield, mono-block gas and condensate field.

Discovery and Appraisal

The high-quality, high-yield oil flow was discovered in the Bozhong 19-6 field in 2017. CNOOC drilled three wells in the north of the field to open up new exploration areas. By 2019, four appraisal wells had been completed, revealing gas layers above 100 meters and increasing the total proved in-place volume to more than 300 million cubic meters of oil equivalent.

Geology

The field is located in the southwestern Bozhong sag, surrounded by the Bozhong sag, Shanan sag, and Huanghekou sag. The strata include the Pingyuan Formation, Minghuazhen Formation, Guantao Formation, Dongying Formation, Shahejie Formation, Kongdian Formation, and local Mesozoic strata, with the Archean metamorphic rock basement being the main gas-bearing interval. The reservoirs are characterized by improved permeability due to tectonic fractures and secondary pores.

Production Facilities

The main production facilities include:

• A newly built wellhead platform
• The existing processing facilities of the Bozhong 13-1 oilfield
• A central processing platform
• Three unmanned wellhead platforms
• One gas processing terminal

A total of 65 development wells are planned, including 42 production wells, 20 gas injection wells, and three water source wells. Gas from the field is supplied to the market through existing pipelines.

Production

The first production from phase one of the Bozhong 19-6 field development commenced in November 2023, with the field currently producing approximately 37,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd). The project is anticipated to reach a peak production of approximately 5,800 boepd by 2026. Notably, the D1 well, the first ultra-deep well in the field, achieved a high yield of 6,300 boepd when drilled to a depth of 6,088 meters.

Expansion and Development Projects

An expansion project, the Bozhong 19 – 6 Gas Field 13 -2 Block 5 Well Site Development Project, is currently in the commissioning stage. This project includes the construction of a wellhead platform and plans to commission ten development wells, with an expected peak production of 5,800 boepd by 2026.

Pilot Project

The pilot project involved the construction of a treatment plant, a pile jacket, an offshore platform, and two undersea pipelines, as well as the renovation of two more offshore platforms and the installation of a submarine cable. This project was completed within 14 months under an integrated management mode, utilizing lower wellhead platforms to drill wells on both sides of the platform.

Impact

The Bozhong 19-6 field is expected to significantly increase China’s energy security and ensure a clean energy supply for low-carbon and sustainable development in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. It will also address gas supply shortages in North China.

Production Timeline

Production from the Bozhong 19-6 field is expected to continue until the field reaches its economic limit in 2064, with peak production anticipated in 2025. As of March 2024, seven development wells had been put into operation, with daily production exceeding 1,100 tonnes of condensate oil and 1 million cubic meters of natural gas.

Contractors and Partners

Key contractors involved in the project include various entities, with notable involvement from the China University of Petroleum.