CNOOC Makes Large Oil and Gas Find

CNOOC Limited (NYSE: CEO, TSX: CNU) announced Monday that the company has made a “large sized” oil and gas discovery at the Bozhong 13-2 asset in Bohai Bay.

Discovery well BZ13-2-2 was drilled and completed at a depth of 17,135 feet and encountered oil pay zones with a total thickness of approximately 1,135 feet, CNOOC noted. The well was tested to produce an average of approximately 1,980 barrels of crude oil and 5.25 million cubic feet of natural gas per day, the company highlighted.

“The successful exploration of Bozhong 13-2 structure is another remarkable exploration achievement for the company to continuously enhancing [sic] its efforts in oil and gas exploration and production in offshore China,” Zhou Xinhuai, the general manager of CNOOC’s exploration department, said in a company statement.

“After obtaining Bozhong 19-6 large sized condensate gas field, the company has made significant breakthrough in the exploration of another type of buried hill in Bohai, which not only has important promotion value, but also demonstrates promising exploration prospect in Bohai,” Xinhuai added.

The Bozhong find is the first discovery CNOOC has announced in 2021. The company’s last discovery announcement came in March 2020, when it revealed that it had made a “large sized” find at Kenli 6-1 in Bohai Bay. Discovery well KL6-1-3 was drilled and completed at a depth of 5,236 feet and encountered oil pay zones with a total thickness of approximately 65 feet, CNOOC revealed in a company statement at the time, adding that the well was tested to produce around 1,178 barrels of oil per day.

The CNOOC Group is the largest producer of offshore crude oil and natural gas in China and one of the largest independent oil and gas exploration and production companies in the world, according to its website. The group’s core operation areas are Bohai, the Western South China Sea, the Eastern South China Sea and the East China Sea, its website shows.

To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com