A group led by a unit of Phillips Petroleum Co. has stepped up oil production off China.
Phillips Petroleum International Corp. Asia placed on stream its second field, Xijiang 30-2, in its development program in the South China Sea. Initial production of 20,000 b/d is to peak at 60,000 b/d within 2 years.
Combined oil production from Xijiang 30-2 and Xijiang 24-3 fields, placed on stream last year, is to peak at 100,000 b/d by yearend 1996.
Phillips completed installation of the 30-2 platform last May and started drilling in July. It installed the 24-3 platform and began production last year, reaching a peak of nearly 75,000 b/d.
Phillips and its partners have spent $600 million in the Xijiang project.
Oil flows through seabed pipelines to a floating processing, storing, and offloading (FPSO) unit on station between the two platforms, which are about 8 miles apart. The FPSO, a modified tanker named the Nanhal Kai Tho, holds 1 million bbl of oil and enables shuttle tankers to transport the oil to refineries in China.
The Xijiang fields lie 80 miles southeast of Hong Kong in 330 ft of water.
Phillips' partners are China National Offshore Oil Corp. and its regional organization, China National Offshore Oil Nanhai East Corp.; and the Shell Offshore China partnership, Pecten Orient Co. and Shell Exploration (China) Ltd.
Phillips and Pecten began their exploration program in the South China Sea in 1984 and found Xijiang 24-3 field in 1985. Discovery of Xijiang 30-2 followed in 1988. In 1992, Phillips, Pecten, and Chinese officials signed an agreement to develop the fields.
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