Innovative Solutions Enable Production Start of China's First Marginal Subsea-Tieback Oil Field

Abstract

Summary Liuhua4-1 (LH4-1) oil field is located 215 km southeast of Hong Kong in the South China Sea. The field was first discovered in 1987, but because of economic and technical challenges, it was not until 2012 that the development of this field became a reality. The 300-m-water-depth oil field was successfully tied back to an existing oil field [Liuhua11-1 (LH11-1)] through subsea pipeline, power cable, and multiplex control umbilical. The project executions included disconnection, life extension, and reconnection to the existing oilfield floating-production system (FPS). It was also China’s first tieback subsea development project. To develop this marginal oil field, a number of technical challenges were overcome through a series of new technologies, and their successful development and implementation.