Operated by CNOOC, the Bozhong 19-6 gas and condensate field is located in Bohai Bay, China. Image courtesy of CCILC.
The Bozhong 19-6 field began production following 14 months of construction. Image courtesy of QiuJu Song/Shutterstock.
The produced gas is sent to the market through existing pipelines. Image courtesy of Dabarti CGI/Shutterstock.

The Bozhong 19-6 field is considered to be the world’s first large-scale, high-yield, mono-block gas and condensate field.

Located in the Bohai Bay Basin in offshore China, it is the biggest oil and gas discovery made in the area in the last 50 years. The field is owned and operated by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and estimated to contain 100 billion cubic metres (bcm) of oil equivalent. Production from the field began in October 2020.

As well as addressing gas supply shortages in North China, the Bozhong 19-6 field will increase the country’s energy security and help ensure a clean energy supply for low-carbon and sustainable development in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

The gas produced from the field could be used to support millions of people for hundreds of years. It would be 15,000 times the size of the Beijing National Stadium if all the gas from the field were spread on the ground.

Location of the Bozhong 19-6 field

The field is located in the Bozhong Sag of South Central Bohai, 100km from Bohai Bay, at an average depth of approximately 23m. Discoveries made in the past 50 years in the Bohai Bay, China’s second-largest crude oil production base, are primarily crude oil reserves due to the complex nature of its geological structure.

Reserves at Bozhong 19-6 field

The Bozhong 19-6 field holds proven reserves of 171.2bcm of natural gas and 180 million cubic metres (mcm) of oil. It is expected to have an annual output of up to 302,000m³ of oil and 330mcm of gas, with a peak production rate of 12,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd).

The field has a peak production capacity of approximately 5,720 barrels of condensate a day and 35.32 million cubic feet (mcf) of natural gas.

Discovery and appraisal

High-quality, high-yield oil flow was discovered in the Bozhong 19-6 field in 2017. Last year, CNOOC drilled three wells in the north of the field to open up new exploration areas. The corporation had completed four appraisal wells in 2019 that revealed gas layers above 100m.

The field appraisal results added proved in-place volume of approximately 200mcm of oil equivalent, increasing the total proved in-place volume to more than 300mcm.

Details about the Bozhong 19-6 field

The Bozhong 19-6 field uses a newly built wellhead platform and the existing processing facilities of the Bozhong 13-1 oilfield. Gas from the field is supplied to the market through existing pipelines.

The pilot project involved the construction of a treatment plant, a pile jacket, an offshore platform and two undersea pipelines, renovating two more offshore platforms and installing a submarine cable.

The pilot project was completed within a period of 14 months under the exploration, development, and production integrated management mode. The milestone was achieved with the help of lower wellhead platforms which were used to drill wells on both sides of the platform. The field development will involve the drilling of eight more wells, including seven production wells and a water source well.