State-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has awarded a key contract to China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) subsidiary Shaanxi Diesel Heavy Industry to supply power generation equipment for a new floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel project. The contract, valued at an estimated hundreds of million yuan (tens of million US dollars), involves the provision of SXD-Everllence 16V32/40 crude oil generator sets and auxiliary systems.

Project and Technical Specifications

The power generation equipment is designated for what is described as Asia's largest cylindrical FPSO. This vessel is CNOOC Ltd's second cylindrical FPSO and is destined for the Kaiping South oilfield in the Pearl River Mouth basin of the South China Sea. The specific operational conditions at the field dictated exceptionally demanding technical requirements for the power units. They must be capable of accommodating up to a 15-degree inclination in any direction during static conditions and withstand up to 22.5 degrees during dynamic operations.

Kaiping South Oilfield Development

The Kaiping South oilfield is located approximately 300 kilometres southwest of Shenzhen and holds in-place volumes of 102 million tonnes of oil equivalent (745 million barrels of oil equivalent). Discovered in 2024, a cylindrical FPSO solution was selected for its safety, versatility, and flexibility. The project proposal, including the FPSO, received environmental approval from the Chinese government last month. The field is expected to begin production by 2029.

Approved Infrastructure Components

The environmental approval encompasses a comprehensive subsea infrastructure plan, which includes:

• The cylindrical FPSO.
• Two subsea production systems (referred to as 1d and 2d).
• Four subsea mixed-transportation pipelines (two 4.2 km and two 4.5 km in length).
• One 4.3-kilometre subsea gas injection pipeline.
• Three umbilical cables and six subsea cables.

The 1d subsea production system will comprise 18 production wells (16 oil producers and two gravity-flow water injection wells), two gas injection wells, three standby wells, and three reserve wells. The 2d system will handle 11 oil production wells, three standby wells, and two reserve wells.

Procurement Status

CNOOC Ltd has initiated the procurement process for the two subsea systems, opening bidding for the equipment tenders with a deadline of 10 December. This development follows the company's launch of its first cylindrical FPSO, the Hai Yang Shi You 122, in 2024, which is deployed at the Liuhua 11-1 and Liuhua 1-4 oil complexes and has a production capacity of 37,700 barrels of oil per day.