On March 31, CNOOC announced the discovery of the Huizhou 19-6 oil and gas field with reserves exceeding 100 million tons in the Huizhou Sag of the Pearl River Mouth Basin. This discovery marks a significant advancement in China's deepwater energy exploration and provides a new strategic replacement area for future deep resource development.
Located approximately 170 kilometers from Shenzhen with an average water depth of about 100 meters, the field has demonstrated a daily production capacity of 413 barrels of crude oil and 68,000 cubic meters of natural gas per well during initial testing. Systematic exploration assessments confirm that the field's proven geological reserves exceed 100 million tons of oil equivalent.
In offshore energy exploration, formations deeper than 3,500 meters are classified as deep layers, while those beyond 4,500 meters are considered ultra-deep layers. These reservoirs typically face challenges such as high temperature, high pressure, and complex storage conditions. Clastic rock reservoirs, in particular, pose greater difficulties for large-scale discoveries due to their low porosity and poor permeability.
Experts from CNOOC's Shenzhen Branch noted that over 60% of the world's newly added oil and gas resources in recent years have come from deep formations. Deep and ultra-deep reservoirs exhibit distinct geological advantages: the high-temperature, high-pressure environment facilitates efficient hydrocarbon conversion, favoring the formation of high-quality light crude oil and natural gas. Additionally, these areas remain relatively underexplored, holding enormous resource potential and are poised to become key contributors to future energy supply growth.
This discovery not only confirms the resource potential of China's offshore deep formations but also provides valuable experience in exploration technologies for complex geological conditions.