CNOOC begins production from WZ11-1

Offshore staff

HONG KONG -- CNOOC Ltd. has begun oil production from the Wei Zhou (WZ) 11-1 field, a marginal independent field in the western South China Sea.

WZ11-1, southwest of Weizhou Island in the Beibu Gulf in water depths of 30-40 m (98-131 ft), is producing at 2,100 b/d of oil.

The field is adjacent to producing fields WZ11-4 and WZ12-1 which facilitated going on production, since it relies on the production facilities and subsea pipelines of WZ 12-1

"Marginal fields such as WZ11-1 can be commercialized by sharing facilities with surrounding oil fields. Previously the company already successfully developed WZ6-1, another marginal field adjacent to WZ11-1, in the same way," says Liu Jian, CNOOC executive vice president.

CNOOC expects to raise the WZ 11-1 peak production to 7,200 b/d.

5/18/2007