China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has announced a substantial oilfield discovery, named Huizhou 19-6, in the eastern South China Sea at an average water depth of approximately 100m.

The main oil-bearing formations are the Paleogene Enping Formation and Wenchang Formation, with the reservoirs in the two formations containing light crude.

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CNOOC chief geologist Xu Changgui said: “In recent years, CNOOC Limited has strengthened the research on exploration theory and technology of the deep and ultra-deep plays in the South China Sea, and breakthroughs have been achieved.

“This discovery has confirmed the largest integrated clastic oilfield in the northern South China Sea in terms of original oil in place, breaking the traditional theoretical understanding, and demonstrating the enormous exploration potential of deep and ultra-deep plays in high-temperature and highly active basins offshore China.”

The HZ19-6-3 discovery well was drilled and completed to a depth of 5,415m, revealing a total of 127m of oil and gas reservoirs.

The well underwent testing, which demonstrated a daily production of 413 barrels of crude oil and 2.41 million cubic feet of natural gas.

Continued exploration efforts have confirmed that the proved in-place volume of the Huizhou 19-6 oilfield exceeds 100 million tonnes (mt) of oil equivalent.

CNOOC CEO Zhou Xinhuai said: “CNOOC Limited has made numerous breakthroughs in oil and gas exploration in the eastern South China Sea. Oilfields with hundred-million-ton oil in-place have been discovered in this area for two consecutive years, making it a new driver of the offshore oil and gas production growth.

“The company will continue to strengthen its efforts in oil and gas exploration and development, to consolidate the resource base for increasing reserves and production, so as to bolster the high-quality development of the company.”

Earlier this month, CNOOC commenced production at the Caofeidian 6-4 Oilfield Comprehensive Adjustment project and the second phase of the Wenchang 19-1 oilfield.

The Caofeidian 6-4 project is located in the western part of the Bohai Sea in waters averaging 20m deep.