Construction began in Qingdao on 6 March 2026 for the cylindrical floating production, storage and offloading unit for the Kaipingnan Oilfield Development Project. The project is described as the largest self-designed and self-constructed cylindrical offshore oil and gas plant in Asia.
The unit will be deployed at the Kaipingnan Oilfield in the Pearl River Mouth Basin, about 300 km from Shenzhen. The field has an average water depth of more than 500 m and proven reserves of more than 100 million tonnes. It is the largest oilfield independently discovered in China’s deepwater sector.
The cylindrical FPSO under construction has a full-load displacement of more than 170,000 t and a maximum oil storage capacity of 122,000 cubic meters. Its process deck has an outer diameter of 110 m, and the deck area is equivalent to 23 standard basketball courts. According to the source, the vessel’s weight and outer deck diameter rank first among similar units in the world.
Floating production, storage and offloading equipment integrates offshore oil and gas extraction, processing, storage and export functions, and is described as an offshore oil and gas factory. Compared with traditional equipment, the cylindrical FPSO has higher space utilization and storage efficiency, with advantages for deep-sea oil and gas development in harsh sea conditions.
Shu Wei, General Manager of Kaiping Oilfield Engineering Construction at CNOOC Engineering, said the facility adopts a 30-year non-return-to-dock ultra-high-standard design. He said the project overcomes design, construction and installation challenges for deepwater ultra-large cylindrical floating production equipment, applies more than 10 domestically produced key items of equipment on a large scale for the first time, and includes 15 intelligent functional modules.
Wang Huoping, Deputy General Manager of the Kaiping Oilfield Development Project at CNOOC Shenzhen Company, said the sea area where the oilfield is located is characterized by deep water, new areas and deep layers, and that the project follows a development strategy of developing, understanding and adjusting at the same time. He said a new cylindrical floating production, storage and offloading unit with a full-load displacement of more than 170,000 t and oil storage capacity of more than 120,000 cubic meters will be built together with supporting subsea pipelines and more than 30 sets of underwater production trees to form a deepwater development system linking the cylindrical FPSO with an underground well network.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China’s oil and natural gas production steadily increased, with offshore crude oil accounting for more than 60% of the country’s new oil production for five consecutive years.
