CNOOC Posts Record Oil and Gas Production

CNOOC Posts Record Oil and Gas Production
CNOOC Ltd. produced 542.1 MMboe in the first nine months, amid a flurry of startups in the South China Sea.
Image by lnzyx via iStock

CNOOC Ltd. produced 542.1 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) in the first nine months of 2024, growing 8.5 percent year-on-year and setting a company record for the January–September period, the Chinese state-backed company has reported.

Domestic output rose 6.6 percent to 369.2 MMboe, amid a flurry of startups in the South China Sea. The increase in Chinese production was driven by offshore fields Bozhong 19-6 and Enping 20-4, CNOOC Ltd said in its quarterly report.

Bozhong 19-6 is among several Chinese developments that CNOOC Ltd. put onstream this year. Five of these are in the South China Sea and three are in the Bohai area of the Yellow Sea.

In the South China Sea, the new production assets are the Liuhua 11-1/4-1 Oilfield Secondary Development Project, the Shenhai-1 Phase II Natural Gas Development Project, the Wushi 17-2 Oilfields Development Project, the Wushi 23-5 Oilfields Development Project and the Xijiang 30-2 Oilfield Xijiang 30-1 Block Development Project.

Besides Bozhong 19-6, the other two new production assets in the Yellow Sea are the Bozhong 19-2 Oilfield Development Project and the Suizhong 36-1/Luda 5-2 Oilfield Secondary Adjustment and Development Project.

Overseas, CNOOC’s production in the first three quarters of 2024 increased 12.2 percent year-on-year to 172.9 MMboe, driven by the Payara oilfield in Guyana’s Stabroek block.

On Thursday CNOOC Ltd. and its partners announced the start of production in the third phase of the Mero oilfield in the Santos basin offshore Brazil. Mero3 has a production capacity of 180,000 barrels of crude per day (bpd), which will raise the field’s installed capacity to 590,000 bpd.

“In the future, the project will separate the oil and associated gas at the seabed and reinject the gas into the reservoir, which will simultaneously boost production and reduce emission”, CNOOC said in a statement on its website. “The project will be an important growth driver for the Company's overseas oil and gas production, as well as a new example of green development”.

CNOOC Ltd, through CNOOC Petroleum Brasil Ltda, owns a 9.65 percent stake. Operator Petróleo Brasileiro SA holds 38.6 percent, TotalEnergies SE 19.3 percent, Shell PLC 19.3 percent, China National Petroleum Corp. 9.65 percent and Pré-Sal Petróleo SA 3.5 percent.

Besides the startups CNOOC Ltd has also made nine new discoveries this year.

Net profit attributable to shareholders rose 19.5 percent against the first nine months of 2023 to CNY 116.66 billion ($16.39 billion), despite Brent oil prices being flat year-on-year, CNOOC Ltd said. Oil and gas revenue climbed 13.9 percent year-over-year to CNY 271.43 billion ($38.12 billion).

“The Company has maintained effective control over all-in cost, which stood at US$28.14 in the first three quarters, remaining flat YoY”, the report stated.

CNOOC Ltd. chief executive and president Zhou Xinhuai said, “In the first three quarters, despite the volatile external environment, the staff of CNOOC Limited remained committed to their responsibilities and worked diligently to achieve record high net production and net profit for the same period in history”.

In other company news, CNOOC Ltd. announced Wednesday it had signed an “Exploration, Development and Production Contract” with Midland Oil Co. for Iraq’s Block 7. Block 7 spans 6,300 square kilometers (2,432.44 square miles), mainly in Diwaniyah province, according to CNOOC Ltd., which will hold a 100 percent operating stake through CNOOC Africa Holding Ltd.

To contact the author, email jov.onsat@rigzone.com


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