China has completed construction of a massive offshore oil and gas platform, state media reported on Monday.
The platform, which took three years to build, is 24 stories high, weighs more than 17,000 tons and has a platform the size of 15 basketball courts, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
It has one of the world’s largest transmission capacities and, once fully operational, will be able to deliver 24 million tonnes of crude oil and 7.4 billion cubic metres of gas annually, the report said.
The platform, built by state-owned China Offshore Oil Engineering Company in the eastern Chinese port of Qingdao, will be transported to the Marjan oil field in the Gulf at the end of the month.
“The completion of the Marjan oil and gas platform marks a breakthrough in China’s technology in building large-scale offshore oil and gas facilities,” CCTV said.
China aims to strengthen its strength in advanced manufacturing in order to move up the industrial value chain.
The Marjan oil field is located off the east coast of Saudi Arabia and is owned and operated by the state-owned oil and gas company Saudi Aramco.
According to Offshore Technology, a London-based industry news source, the platform is part of the $12 billion Marjan crude increment program, which aims to expand the field’s capacity by 300,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
In addition, an additional 2.5 billion standard cubic feet per day will be processed and 360,000 barrels of ethane and liquefied natural gas will be produced, the report said.
