HAIKOU /China/, April 11. /TASS/. The volume of offshore natural gas production in the waters of the southern Chinese province of Hainan has reached a record of 20 million cubic meters per day, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) announced.
According to the company, the energy resources are intended primarily for the domestic market in order to ensure national energy security. CNOOC Hainan Branch Deputy General Manager Liu Shujie told Xinhua News Agency that the gas produced near Hainan will also be delivered through an underwater pipeline to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
The Shenhai-1 deep-water platform, commissioned last June, plays an important role in offshore gas production near the island. It is located 150 km from the city of Sanya and is able to provide production of about 3 billion cubic meters of energy per year. This construction was built by China itself, without foreign support. It is expected to be in operation for 150 years.
According to the official data, CNOOC has 16 drilling platforms, including those offshore in the south, east and west off the coast of Hainan. The corporation also owns three onshore gas processing rigs. Thanks to the activities of this company in January-February, the gross output of the oil and gas industry of the southernmost Chinese province increased 12.6 times year on year.
The area of Hainan together with the sea area is about 2 million square kilometers, which is equivalent to the territory of Mexico. The South China Sea shelf has enormous hydrocarbon reserves, the active development of which, the authorities believe, will allow China to meet a significant portion of domestic demand for energy.
