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China completes offshore crude oil storage unit

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-04-30 16:55

China National Offshore Oil Co. Ltd. (CNOOC Ltd.) announced on Monday it has completed construction of the hull of the country's largest offshore oil production and storage unit, which is capable of holding two million barrels of crude oil.

Named "Offshore Oil 117", the floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit is more than 323 meters long and more than 63 meters in width. A joint venture project with ConocoPhillips China Inc., it is capable of processing more than 190 thousand barrels of crude oil every day.

The unit will be used to store crude oil that is pumped from offshore oil wells before it is transferred to oil tankers and brought ashore.

"As one of the world's largest offshore oil storage units, Offshore Oil 117 represents China's advancement in ship-building and offshore engineering," said the official.

The finished hull will now be shipped fromShanghaito Singapore, where work on the unit's topside will be completed.

The FPSO will be put into use by the end of 2008 in the Bohai Sea at the Penglai 19-3 Project, which is jointly being developed by CNOOC and ConocoPhillips China Inc.

With geological oil reserves of 600 million tons, Penglai 19-3 is the largest offshore oil field discovered in China. The project's second phase, which will officially go into production at the end of 2008, is expected to produce as much as 180,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.