(Hong Kong, March 1, 2005) - CNOOC Limited (together with its subsidiaries, the "Company", NYSE: CEO, SEHK: 883) today announced that the Company, and ConocoPhillips China Inc (COPC), a ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) subsidiary, had signed a contract with Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS), a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), for the 280,000 DWT (Dead, Weight, Tonne) floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel hull for the PengLai (PL) oil fields. It is the biggest FPSO hull ever built in China.
The Contract covers the design, partial procurement and construction of the FPSO. Estimated at cost of over US$200MM, the hull is scheduled for delivery from SWS in May 2007.
Mr. Fu Chengyu, Chairman & CEO of CNOOC Ltd. reiterated the significance of Penglai oilfield in China‘s oil industry. "As China‘s largest offshore oilfield, PL19-3 will contribute a lot to CNOOC Ltd‘s production growth as well as play an important role in achieving its mid-long term target. The new FPSO construction will be one of the major facilities in the Penglai oilfield development, and we can not over emphasize the significance of this FPSO in the development of the field."
The topside modules of the FPSO is now being fabricated in Singapore. The topsides, weighing approximately 35,000 tonnes, will have a processing capacity of 190,000 barrels of oil per day (annual processing capacity of 10 million tonnes) with 510,000 barrels of fluid handled per day.
Having a length of over 310 meters, breadth of over 60 meters and a depth of 29 meters, the FPSO vessel is designed to have an onboard storage capacity of approximately 2.0 million barrels of crude oil.
When completed, the FPSO facility is bound for Block 11//05 in Bohai Bay, where COPC and CNOOC Ltd. are carrying out the development of China‘s largest offshore oilfield PL19-3.
The Company owns 51% working interests while COPC has the remaining 49%.
On Jan.17, 2005, the Overall Development Program for PL 19-3 (Phase II) & PL 25-6 field was officially approved by the Chinese government. Detailed design engineering, procurement and construction are in progress on the second phase of development of the PL oilfield, which is planned to include five wellhead platforms, central processing facilities and a new FPSO. First wellhead platform of Phase II will be put into production during the first half of 2007. Production through the new FPSO is expected by the end of 2008.
Production from the first phase development of the PL 19-3 oilfield began in Dec. 2002. Phase I utilizes one wellhead platform and a leased FPSO.
|
|||
