On February 24, 2019, CCTV reported on the astonishing discovery of China National Offshore Oil Corporation, China's third-largest oil company about the Bozhong 19-6 gas field which was located in the Bohai Sea of China. It was tested and proved to be able to provide high-quality and high-yield oil and gas flow. The reserves of natural gas were proved to be over 100 billion cubic meters which makes it the largest oil and gas discovery in the Bohai Bay Basin in the past 50 years. 

How large is 100 billion cubic meters? 

100 billion cubic meters of natural gas can support the daily demand of millions of people in cities for hundreds of years. If it is taken onto the ground, it will be as large as 15000 Bird's Nest stadiums in size, 100000 times larger than the water cube. 

The drilling platform participating in the 100 billion oil and gas discovery is the jack-up drilling platform of China Oilfield Services Co., Ltd., ship number: Offshore Oil 932, ship type: SuperM2 independent leg cantilever type jack-up drilling platform, with a water depth of 300 feet and a drilling depth of 30,000 feet, the platform's main core equipment is designed, manufactured, installed and commissioned by TSC, a brand of CMIC.

These core equipments mainly includes complete drilling equipment and power distribution and control equipment.

1.Drilling equipment

This is the most important core equipment for drilling operations, and it is various and demanding. Due to the long-term operation of drilling equipment on the seabed, the environment is harsh and the maintenance is difficult. Therefore, each component needs to have a high degree of precision and good reliability, which is equivalent to wearing an embroidery needle on the seabed. Its main components are divided into drill string transmission and rotating system equipment, including winch, rig, top drive, turntable, drill pipe discharge machine, interface / shackle machine and other equipment; mud preparation and conveying system equipment, including high pressure mud pump, high pressure Pipeline and other equipment; mud purification system equipment, including vibrating screen, high-speed centrifuge and other equipment; drilling operation safety system equipment, including blowout preventer, combustion arm, control high-pressure manifold and other equipment; drilling system equipment centralized control operating system device. For the offshore oil 932 drilling platform, TSC provides more than 130 drilling system equipment. Every piece of equipment is vital to the drilling operation and is indispensable.

The drilling equipment on the Offshore Oil 932 drilling rig is the world's first equipment to obtain the Drilling System Certificate (CDS) issued by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) with extremely high-quality requirements. The raw material production of each piece of equipment must have the record and approval of ABS. The whole process of equipment manufacturing, and testing and the final installation and commissioning must have ABS check and step by step approval. In this way, the quality of each component can be guaranteed to be excellent and long-lasting.

(TSC engineers on the drilling platform install and debug high pressure mud pumps)

2. Power distribution and control equipment

Equivalent to the blood and nervous system of the human body, delivering power and control commands to all equipment on the rig. It also includes control of the platform generator set, control of the platform jacking system, and power distribution and control of the living building area. On the Offshore Oil 932 drilling platform, TSC has provided a total of 54 electrical control cabinets, including switch cabinets (MCC), variable frequency control cabinets (VFD), drilling equipment program control cabinets (PLC cabinets), etc., to fully support the blood transport of the drilling platform and nerve conduction.

(TSC engineers on the drilling platform install and debug power distribution equipment)

In addition, TSC is also one of the few manufacturers in the world that can design and manufacture jack-up platform’s jacking systems. The jacking equipment is like the human limbs, ensuring the stable movement of the huge platform. The entire system mainly includes a jacking gear box, a locking device and its control system. On the offshore oil 932 type of drilling platform, a total of 54 gearboxes were installed. The gear lift of each gearbox was 200 metric tons, and the total lift of 54 gearboxes was 10,800 tons. As the water depth or wind waves change, these jacking gears can raise or lower the drilling platform along the pile legs. At the time of drilling operation, the locking device locks the platform on the pile legs and is stationary, so the components must be tightly combined and powerful.

TSC's design and manufacture of the jacking gearbox combined with its intelligent control system is the most stable, quietest and safest gearbox in the world. Like drilling equipment, TSC's jacking system equipment has also been approved by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and the Norwegian Classification Society (DNV).

(The TSC brand's jacking system console on the rig)

In May 2017, China's self-designed and built sixth-generation semi-submersible drilling platform "Blue Whale No. 1" successfully exploited combustible ice in the South China Sea, which is a milestone in promoting China's energy security and optimizing energy structure. "Blue Whale One" is the world's most advanced ultra-deepwater double-drilling tower semi-submersible drilling platform. It has won the highest award in China's industrial field - the 5th China Industrial Award. Its design, construction and commissioning mark the exploration of deepwater oil and gas resources in China. The development capability and the level of construction of large-scale offshore equipment are world leaders.

"Blue Whale One" is also equipped with a variety of core equipment of TSC brand, including the oil and gas burners in the news report. The oil and gas burner can resist the typhoon of Class 12, ensuring uninterrupted test mining operation, and has made great contributions to the successful mining of combustible ice. It also shows that the core equipment designed and manufactured by TSC is of reliable quality and well designed.

At present, TSC brand has become the leading domestic offshore engineering equipment, with the world's leading offshore engineering design technology and product manufacturing capabilities. More than 25% of the world's deepwater drilling platforms use TSC equipment and have supplied drilling equipment packages for 10 jack-up rigs. TSC provided the world's first ABS-CDS-certified jack-up platform drilling system. Up to now, more than 180 jack-up platforms, semi-submersible platforms and drilling vessels around the world have equipped with TSC brand BOP lifting and transport equipment. TSC provided BOP lifting systems for the world's first and second JU2000E. The independently developed rig electric drive and control system, more than 250 SCR/VFD electronic control systems are sold in 21 countries, providing more than 300 deck cranes for the global offshore industry.

The drilling package is the core equipment on the drilling platform. It has been monopolized by a few large international companies for a long time. After years of hard work, our company has broken the monopoly of European and American enterprises and has become one of the few wholly owned intellectual property rights in the world with ability to design, manufacture, repair and maintain comprehensive services. It is one of the suppliers that provide turnkey package services for drilling core equipment. It helps China offshore oil to take a place in the world's advanced core equipment field and lay a solid foundation for the transformation of China's offshore engineering to high-end technology.

The discovery of the 100 billion-level gas field in Bohai Bay, TSC brand shines out once again. In the future, we will continue to provide core technical equipment for oil and gas exploration. We will not forget our initial intentions and move forward to fully support the development of China's offshore engineering industry.