Offshore Oil Engineering Co., Ltd. (COOEC) has begun assembling the hull of a cylindrical floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit for the Kaiping 11-4 Oilfield Block 18-1 Development Project at its construction site in Qingdao, China.
The first hull section was laid on 15 October 2026 at the Qingdao International High-end Equipment Manufacturing Base, moving the project into the main structural assembly phase. The FPSO is designed to become Asia’s largest cylindrical offshore oil and gas production facility.
The hull will be built from 182 sections, each fabricated, inspected and painted before being transferred to the construction dock. The initial section provides the foundation for the bottom of the hull, making its positioning and welding accuracy important to the remaining assembly work.
The cylindrical structure requires tighter control of section alignment and connection points than a conventional ship-shaped FPSO. To manage these requirements, the construction team has prepared dedicated procedures for lifting, positioning, welding, inspection and site safety.
The team is also using a digital precision control system developed with artificial intelligence and data analysis technologies. Building on experience from the Haikui-1 cylindrical FPSO project, the system continuously monitors section dimensions, lifting paths and dock clearances, with positioning accuracy controlled to the millimeter level.
The new FPSO forms the central production facility for the Kaiping South Oilfield development in the eastern South China Sea. The field has proven geological reserves exceeding 100 million tonnes and is described as China’s largest independently discovered deepwater oilfield.
The development includes a 100,000-tonne-class cylindrical FPSO, supporting subsea pipelines and cables, and more than 30 subsea wellheads. The production arrangement will link the offshore processing and storage facility with a network of subsea wells.
The FPSO is designed to integrate crude oil production, processing, storage and transportation functions, along with accommodation facilities for personnel working offshore.
The hull assembly milestone follows the project’s earlier construction start in Qingdao, previously covered by HMT News.
With the initial section installed, the remaining hull blocks will be lifted and joined in successive stages. Work on topside module fabrication, subsea production equipment manufacturing and localization of core equipment will proceed alongside hull construction.
The subsequent programme will involve completing the hull structure, integrating the various systems and carrying out commissioning activities. Construction teams will coordinate the different work packages while maintaining quality and safety controls throughout the remaining assembly process.
