July 23, 2025 [Oil Price]- CNOOC Ltd, China’s top offshore crude oil and natural gas producer, has launched production of heavy crude from its Kenli 10-2 Oilfields Development Project, which is the largest shallow lithological oilfield offshore China, the company has said.

The project in the southern Bohai Sea will see 79 development wells commissioned, including 33 cold recovery wells, 24 thermal recovery wells, 21 water injection wells, and 1 water source well.

CNOOC expects the project to achieve peak production of about 19,400 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in 2026. The oil in the reservoir is heavy crude, the Chinese company noted.

Kenli 10-2 Oilfield has proved in-place volumes of crude of 100 million tons, or around 730 million barrels, discovered in the shallow depression zone of the Bohai Bay Basin.

CNOOC, which holds a 100% interest in the project and is the operator, is developing it in two phases. The production platform is one of the most complex of its kind in the Bohai Sea area, as well as the first large-scale thermal recovery platform for heavy oil in southern Bohai Sea, CNOOC says.

In June, the company installed the platform at the Kenli field, which it said isi the largest and heaviest offshore platform.

CNOOC, which specializes in offshore oil and gas developments in China and internationally, reported earlier this year that its net oil and gas production for 2024 was about 720 million barrels of oil equivalent—setting a record high for the sixth consecutive year.

Early this year, CNOOC kept its capital expenditure for 2025 flat compared to 2024 as it lowered its oil and gas production growth target, although it still expects annual output records going forward.

Despite the fact that the production targets for 2025-2027 are now lower than the previous goals communicated to the market last year, CNOOC continues to expect its oil and gas production to keep setting all-time high annual records through 2027.