Project Profile
Value: Undisclosed
Location: Donghai Xihu area, 350 km to the southeast of Ningbo City, East China Sea
Reserves: 7.8 billion barrels of oil and 266.9 billion cubic feet of gas
Start-up Year: January 2006
Area: 22,000 square km
The Chunxiao natural gas field (known as Shirakaba gas field in Japanese) lies in the East China Sea within the Chinese Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and only 4 km from the EEZ border claimed by Japan. The oil/gas field, located in a depressed area of the Donghai Xihu, 350 km to the southeast of Ningbo City, is composed of four oil/gas fields Chunxiao, Canxue, Duanqiao and Tianwaitian, with a total area of 22,000 square km.
The Chunxiao field is the first of a group of four natural gas fields in the Xihu Trough being developed by China: the other ones are Tianwaitian, Duanqiao, and Canxue.The Comprehensive Development Project of the Chunxiao Oil/Gas Field, a key investment development project of China, is undertaken by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation Ltd. and Sinopec. The South Korean Hyundai Heavy Industries was responsible for the laying of seabed pipelines and pipeline pressure test and trial operation from Ningbo\'s Sanshan to offshore Chunxiao Gas Field and from the gas field to the platform, the length of the pipeline totals 470 km. reserves of the field are estimated to be around 7.8 billion barrels of oil and 266.9 billion cubic feet of gas, while production started in January 2006 even though there were several disputes regarding the legal framework under which the field has been exploited as it lies in the Japanese-Chinese borders.
Operators:
China National Offshore Oil Corporation Ltd (CNOOC): 50% interest
Sinopec: 50% interest
Contractors:
Hyundai Heavy Industries: Laying of seabed pipelines and pipeline pressure test and trial pipeline operation