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China discovers major gas field in South China Sea

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China has discovered a major natural gas field in the South China Sea. It is the country's first independent deep-sea discovery. CCTV reporter Han Peng reports from the rig now operating there.

China has discovered a major natural gas field in the South China Sea. It is the country's first independent deep-sea discovery. 

It took us an hour by helicopter flight to reach the heart of the South China Sea.

China's deep water oilrig 981, known as the country's "aircraft carrier" in its offshore drilling, is anchored there, and has just discovered a major gas field.

Located in the deep sea of over 15-hundred meters deep, this newly discovered field contains energy equivalent of nearly 10,000 barrels of oil per day.

CNOOC, China's largest offshore oil and gas company, says the discovery signals that China has the technologies for the deep sea drilling.

"It looks easy, but everything changes when it comes to deep water. The water is icy cold and has huge pressure in the seabed, which could easily damage any equipment. After countless trial and error, we finally reached this result," China National Offshore Oil Corporation Deep Water Project Manager Fang Manzong said.

Director Xie Yuhong has been working in the South China Sea since the 1980s.

China has discovered a major natural gas field in the South China Sea. It is the country's first independent deep-sea discovery. 

When he arrived here, a group of foreign experts eyeing the resources of the South China Sea have just left, saying the natural condition was not suitable for offshore drilling.

He and his co-workers lived in tents and started China's decades-long independent research.

"Life was very hard. When it rained outside, our shabby tents would leak heavily. When it was sunny, it was scorching hot. As we drew the blueprints, sometimes our arms would be so wet that the sweat would damage the paper," CNOOC South China Sea Oil Management Dep't Director Xie Yuhong said.

The hard work of generations of people like Xie has helped shaped the oilrig 981, China's first domestically made deep sea drilling rig.

Completed in 2012, the rig, as tall as a six-storey building and larger than a football field, can drill in waters of over 3,000 meters deep.

It will help reduce China's reliance on imported energy.

"Going from the land to the sea, and going from the coastal waters to the deep ocean, is the route many countries have taken. China has around 300 square meters of sea territory, nearly one-third of the size of its land. Developing offshore drilling is an integral part of China's pursuit of becoming a maritime power," China National Offshore Oil Corporation Chairman Wang Yilin said.

Two years ago, China's offshore drilling could only reach 300 meters below the sea level, which limited its operation mostly along the coastlines. With the completion of the oilrig 981, China is ready to go further into the deep water to tap the potential of the vast ocean. CNOOC says the country is now technologically capable of drilling in any place in the entire South China Sea. Han Peng, CCTV, from South China Sea.

 

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