China Offshore Oil Corporation
(CNOOC) announced its first deepwater gas field discovery in South China Sea. The
discovery made by CNOOC drilling HYSY 981, same drilling platform sparked a
diplomatic spat when it parked within the waters claimed by Vietnam as part of
its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
According to reports, the newly
discovered gas field is located 150 kilometers of south Hainan — in other
words, it is not in the disputed area of South China Sea. The gas field,
located at an average depth of 1,500 meters classified as “ultra—deep water gas field.”
CNOOC representatives told that
China “is now technologically capable of drilling any place in the entire
South China Sea.”Xie reports noted that this represented the highest
gas flow of all the gas wells tested by so far.
Presumably, those tested wells
would be the one CNOOC was working on near the disputed Paracels Islands. In
that sense, the announcement regarding Lingshui 17-2 is good news for China—Vietnam
relations, as it seems CNOOC did not find the divisive drill site to be as
promising as the gas field near Hainan.
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