CNOOC Ltd. has begun production at the Weizhou 5-3 oilfield in the South China Sea, its seventh announced startup offshore China in 2025.
Weizhou 5-3 is expected to reach a peak output of about 10,000 barrels a day next year, the state-backed oil and gas explorer and producer said in an online statement Monday. The field produces medium crude.
Weizhou 5-3 is in the South China Sea’s Beibu Gulf, or Gulf of Tonkin, in waters around 35 meters (114.83 feet) deep.
The development includes a wellhead platform, as well as uses existing facilities. CNOOC Ltd., majority-owned by China National Offshore Oil Corp., plans to commission seven production wells and two water injection wells.
CNOOC Ltd. owns 51 percent of the project. Smart Oil Investment Ltd. holds 49 percent.
Previously in 2025 CNOOC Ltd. announced three startups in the Bohai Sea and three in the South China Sea. The Bohai Sea projects are the Caofeidian 6-4 oilfield adjustment, phase 2 of the Luda 5-2 North field and the Bozhong 26-6 field. The South China Sea projects are Wenchang 19-1 oilfield phase 2, the Dongfang 29-1 field and the Panyu 11-12/10-1/10-2 Oilfield Adjustment Joint Development Project.
The Caofeidian 6-4 adjustment project is expected to achieve 11,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day (boed) in peak production 2026. The oil is light crude.
Luda 5-2 North phase 2 could reach about 6,700 boed in peak production next year. Phase 1 went online 2022 as the first Chinese oilfield to produce from superheavy oil reservoirs through thermal recovery, according to CNOOC Ltd.
It said of Luda 5-2 North phase 2, “CNOOC Limited made major technological breakthroughs in this project and significantly enhanced the development efficiency of offshore super heavy oil”.
“Through optimized Jet Pump Injection-Production Technology, the project realized efficient and economic development of heavy crude, which could further enhance the Company’s energy supply capacity”, CNOOC Ltd. added.
Bozhong 26-6 could reach 22,300 boed in peak production 2025. It is the globe’s biggest buried metamorphic hill oilfield according to the company. Bozhong 26-6, which has an average water depth of about 20 meters, holds over 200 million cubic meters (7.06 billion cubic feet) of proven oil and gas in place according to the company.
In the South China Sea, Wenchang 19-1 is expected to reach 12,000 boed in peak production 2027. The project produces medium crude.
Dongfang 29-1 could reach 38 million cubic feet a day in peak natural gas production 2025.
Panyu 11-12/10-1/10-2 could also reach its peak rate of 13,600 boed this year. The Panyu field has produced over 380 million barrels of petroleum since coming online 2003 according to the company.
To contact the author, email jov.onsat@rigzone.com
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