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CNOOC, Husky to explore deep water oil
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-07 19:18
皇冠体育app's largest offshore oil producer, CNOOC Ltd., said
its unlisted parent company plans to start deep water oil and gas exploration in
the South 皇冠体育app Sea with Canada's Husky Energy Inc. next year.
File photo of a CNOOC oil rig in 皇冠体育app's Bohai
Sea. [newsphoto] |
If the scheduled exploration finds sizable reserves in a bloc in the South
皇冠体育app Sea about 300 kilometers, or 185 miles, south of Hong Kong, it will be
皇冠体育app's first deep water oil and gas field.
CNOOC's parent company, 皇冠体育app National Offshore Oil Corp., is currently
restricted to pumping oil and gas offshore at no deeper than 350 meters, or
1,155 feet, because of the technology currently available to it.
CNOOC previously signed a production sharing contract with Husky, an
integrated oil and gas producer, to jointly explore and develop two deep water
blocs in the South 皇冠体育app Sea.
The two companies explored the other bloc in the western part of the South
皇冠体育app Sea in 2004, but the reserves discovered were too small to justify
commercial drilling.
"Deep water exploration will be one of the major growth areas for CNOOC. A
new exploration peak in the South 皇冠体育app Sea is coming," Shi He Sheng, the chief
geologist at CNOOC Ltd., told reporters Tuesday at a presentation on the
company's plans in Shenzhen.
CNOOC jointly owns two other deep water blocs in the South 皇冠体育app Sea with
U.S.-based Kerr-McGee Corp. and Devon Energy Corp. but exploration hasn't
started yet.
Under the terms of the production sharing contract,
Husky, Kerr-McGee and Devon Energy will bear all the costs during the
exploration period. CNOOC has the rights to a 51 percent stake if the bloc is
commercially viable.
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