Offshore : First development well operation at Lingshui 17-2 gas field in the South China Sea :
In April 2019, Bluewhale Offshore signed a two year contract with CNOOC, commencing April 2019, for its flagship ultra-deepwater, 7th generation drilling unit Bluewhale I.
Discovered in 2014, Lingshui 17-2 gas field, 150 kilometers away from Hainan Island, is located in the confluence of three major plates: Eurasia, Pacific, and India-Australia.
When completed, the field will produce about 3 billion to 3.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
According to CIMC Raffles, drilling operations face many challenges such as complex geological structure, high temperature, and pressure, ultra-deepwater, and extreme typhoon weather.
A total of 11 development wells were deployed in the Lingshui 17-2 gas field, distributed in 7 deep-water well areas, each with different geological conditions and hydrological conditions.
CIMC said, the working water depth of this well exceeds 1,200 meters and the completed drilling depth is close to 4,200 meters.
Blue Whale 1 built by CIMC Raffles is an ultra-deepwater semi-submersible drilling platform is 117 meters long, 92.7 meters wide and 118 meters high.
It weighs 43725 tons, the maximum operating
CONTRACTS ~ Lingshui 17-2
In December 2019, Subsea 7 inks Risers Installation Services contract for deepwater Lingshui project. The contract worth between U$ 50 million and U$ 150 million.
In October 2019, CNOOC picked MacGregor to provide Riser pull-in system for Deepwater FPU, located in the Lingshui 17-2 gas field.
Earlier in 2019, China’s Offshore Oil Engineering Company (COOEC) hired Keppel FloaTEC, a subsidiary of Keppel O & M, for the provision of engineering services in support of the construction of the Lingshui 17-2 production semi-submersible unit. The offshore facility will be built-in China.
Also, Aker Solutions was awarded a contract in October 2018 by CNOOC, valued at more than NOK 1.7 billion, to provide the subsea production system and umbilicals for the Lingshui 17-2 gas field
