A hundred-million-ton oil field was discovered in the South China Sea last March, which is about 170 kilometers away

China has discovered hundreds of millions of tons of oil fields in the South China Sea.

On March 31, it was learned from China National Offshore Oil Corporation that the company has made a discovery of a 1.9-600 million ton oilfield in Huizhou in the deep - ultra-deep sea of the South China Sea.

This is the first time that China has discovered a large-scale integrated oil field in deep-sea and ultra-deep clastic rocks, breaking through traditional theoretical understanding and demonstrating the huge exploration potential of deep-sea and ultra-deep in China's offshore high ground temperature and highly active basins.

Huizhou 19-6 Oilfield is located in the eastern part of the South China Sea, about 170 kilometers away from Shenzhen City, with an average water depth of 100 meters. The main oil-bearing strata are the Enping Formation and Wenchang Formation of the Paleogene system, and the nature of the oil is light crude oil. The discovery well HZ19-6-3 encountered a total of 127 meters of oil and gas layers during drilling, and the completed drilling depth was 5,415 meters. After testing, the well has an average daily output of 413 barrels of crude oil and 68,000 cubic meters of natural gas. Through continuous exploration, the proven geological reserves of Huizhou 19-6 Oilfield have exceeded 100 million tons of oil equivalent.

Cnooc also discovered hundreds of millions of tons of oil fields in the South China Sea last year.

Cnooc announced on March 8 last year that it had discovered China's first deepwater and deep-layer large oilfield - Kaiping South Oilfield in the Pearl River Estuary Basin of the South China Sea, with proven geological reserves of oil and gas reaching 102 million tons of oil equivalent. This oil field is the largest commercial discovery of nuclear complex type depression in the world.

The discovery well of Kaiping South Oilfield encountered an oil and gas layer of 100.6 meters during drilling. The average daily oil and gas production tested exceeded 1,000 tons of oil equivalent, setting a new record for the test production of deepwater and deep oil and gas in China.

Guosen Securities stated that the proven rate of Marine oil and gas resources is relatively low, but the exploration potential is considerable. With the continuous development of Marine oil and gas development equipment and technologies, the economic efficiency of developing Marine oil and gas has been constantly improving, promoting oil and gas extraction from shallow water to deep water. At present, offshore oil contributes the majority of China's oil increment, and Marine oil and gas will remain a key direction for increasing reserves and production.

By the end of 2024, CNOOC's net confirmed reserves reached 7.27 billion barrels of oil equivalent, setting a new historical record, with the reserve life remaining at 10 years. During the period, the company's net output reached 726.8 million barrels of oil equivalent, increasing by 7.2% year-on-year and setting a new historical record for six consecutive years.

In 2025, CNOOC expects its capital expenditure to be between 125 and 135 billion yuan, with a production target of 760 to 780 million barrels of oil equivalent, which is higher than its production guidance of 700 to 720 million barrels of oil equivalent for 2024.