There is not only the Golden Cudgel in the East China Sea, but also the "Dinghai Magic Needle" in the South China Sea

Oil is the "black blood" that keeps modern society running. The United States has established the dollar financial system with the help of oil, and countries such as Saudi Arabia and Dubai have become rich overnight with their abundant oil resources. Oil has created a variety of wealth and industrial myths.

For a long time, the shortage of oil resources in my country has placed China at the downstream of the world's oil industry chain. According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs of China, China's total crude oil imports in 2020 reached 542.39 million tons, and the import amount exceeded US$170 billion, making it the world's largest crude oil importer for six consecutive years.

At the same time, there are 24.6 billion tons of oil and 16 trillion cubic meters of natural gas stored on the continental shelf of my country's South China Sea. These treasures are extremely difficult to exploit, but due to various technical and environmental reasons, they are daunting.

Carrying forward the dream of energy independence 70 years after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the deepwater semi-submersible drilling platform Haiyang Shiyou 981, which has the world’s top technology, came into being.

Breaking the foreign monopoly: the world's top drilling rig No. 981

A drilling platform is an offshore structure used to drill wells on the seabed. The platform is often equipped with drilling, power, communication, navigation and other equipment, as well as additional safety and life-saving facilities for personnel. It is the most important tool for offshore oil and gas exploration and development.

Since the discovery of oil in 1855, the high profits from oil have greatly promoted oil exploration and exploitation activities. In the past century, the development of offshore oil resources has become increasingly in-depth. In 1897, a 76.2-meter-high wooden frame was first erected on the tidal shoals of California, USA, and a drilling rig was set up on it to drill wells and exploit oil. This was the prototype of the world's first offshore drilling. Subsequently, in order to adapt to the complex deep-sea drilling environment, more and more drilling platforms were developed.

Generally speaking, common drilling platforms can be roughly divided into two categories: fixed and mobile platforms. Fixed platforms are mainly supported by cast cement piles and are used for oil drilling and exploitation in shallow waters. Such permanent facilities can withstand strong winds and waves, but can only be used for the development of shallow water resources. Mobile platforms can be further divided into jack-up platforms and semi-submersible drilling platforms. Jack-up platforms follow the design concept of fixed platforms. They have several "long legs" that can be lifted/lowered at any time, so they have the ability to move in the sea, but such platforms can only be used in shallow waters.

There is a consensus in the field of marine oil and gas resource development that the South China Sea has the worst drilling environment in the world. The average water depth of the Persian Gulf, the world's oil and gas cornucopia, is 40 meters, and the maximum depth is 104 meters. The average water depth of my country's South China Sea is 1,200 meters, and the deepest reaches 5,500 meters, which means that my country faces hundreds of times more difficulties in deep-sea exploration and exploitation. In addition, the South China Sea is also facing the threat of hurricanes, tsunamis, and internal wave stress in the sea. For example, in 1983, when the drilling ship of the US ARCO Oil Company was illegally exploiting around Hainan Island in my country, it was hit by a typhoon and all the crew members on board were killed.

Faced with the harsh natural environment of the South China Sea and the technical monopoly of drilling platforms, my country rose to the challenge. After decades of technical research and development and accumulation, it selected semi-submersible drilling platforms with large variable loads, strong wind and wave resistance, wide adaptability to water depths, and comprehensive operating functions for centralized research and development. In 2011, the sixth-generation deepwater semi-submersible drilling platform independently developed and manufactured by my country, the Haiyang Shiyou 981, was successfully completed. This platform has the ability to operate at a water depth of 3,050 meters, with a maximum drilling depth of 10,000 meters. During operation, it can withstand a 17-level typhoon and can also cope with a head-on collision with several thousand-ton ships. The designed service life is up to 30 years. Haiyang Shiyou 981, which ranks first in the world in many technical indicators, represents that my country's semi-submersible drilling platforms have reached the world's top level.

Drilling without Mining: How 981 Drilling Machine Works

In the process of offshore oil development, drilling platforms and production platforms each perform their duties and work together. The drilling platform is responsible for the initial exploration and drilling work. After completing the preliminary preparations, the production platform will connect to dozens of oil wells for production based on the drilling. The 981 platform is responsible for surveying the oil and gas reserves in the South my country Sea.

The Haiyang Shiyou 981 platform is 114 meters long, 89 meters wide, weighs 35,000 tons, and bears a load of 125,000 tons. In order to propel such a huge "monster", the 981 drilling platform adopts a dual power setting of self-propelled + tugboat towing. The platform is equipped with 8 underwater detachable full-rotation thrusters, each with a power of up to 44,000 kilowatts. At the same time, the platform is also equipped with multiple towing positions, so that it can move freely in the deep sea.

After the 981 platform arrives at the target working point, preliminary ballast and leveling preparations will be carried out. Under the multiple effects of hurricanes, waves, and ocean currents, the Offshore Oil 981 platform will move in six degrees of freedom. Therefore, the platform must use an anchor positioning system to ensure the operating stability of the platform when conducting offshore operations. The 981 platform is equipped with two independent positioning systems: DP3 dynamic positioning and anchor fixation. When working, the central control system will adjust the output and direction of the engine according to real-time wind direction, wave and other data to ensure the stability of the platform; in addition, the platform will also throw out its 12 15-ton anchors in the sea within 1,500 meters. These anchors can generate 800 tons of gripping force to firmly fix the platform in the deep sea. With a multi-pronged approach, the 981 platform can achieve high-precision operations with a maximum free distance of no more than 1m during work.

After dozens of days of exploration and drilling, the 981 platform will record the distribution of oil and gas reserves at the measuring points and complete the work of reserving wells for mining. Subsequent work will be handed over to the corresponding production platform for resource collection.

China's South China Sea Stabilizing Force

In May 2012, the 981 platform successfully completed its first drilling at the Liwan 6-1-1 well in the South my country Sea, officially announcing that my country's offshore oil and gas development had gotten rid of its high dependence on imported equipment and personnel, and ended the embarrassing situation of less than 10% of the oil and gas exploration rate in the South my country Sea. Subsequently, the 981 platform moved to Baiyun Bay, Xisha Islands and other areas to conduct multiple large-scale surveys and drillings.

Not surprisingly, China's official development of the South China Sea has aroused opposition from some Southeast Asian countries. In 2014, the 981 platform, which embodies China's high-tech, encountered obstacles in its exploration work in the South China Sea from Vietnam and the United States - "China must immediately abandon this platform that violates human rights and maritime rights." Despite a large number of armed ships intruding into Chinese territorial waters and colliding with and interfering with our escort ships 1,416 times, the 981 platform still successfully completed its exploration of marine oil and gas resources in the Xisha Islands.

Subsequently, the 981 platform moved to the Andaman Sea in Myanmar for offshore drilling operations, and completed exploration operations at a depth of 5,000 meters under the sea. The drilling depth reached 5,030 meters, setting a new record for the depth of deepwater semi-submersible drilling platforms in my country. As of 2019, the 981 platform has completed the drilling and survey of 32 marine exploration wells, making a huge contribution to the development of oil and gas resources in the South my country Sea.

In the global ocean development boom, hundreds of companies around the world have entered the deep-sea survey and drilling service market. With the advanced technology of the 981 platform, China National Offshore Oil Corporation has become one of the world's top ten deep-sea drilling companies.

Relying on the 981 platform, CNOOC has successively launched the Haiyang Shiyou 708 geological survey ship and the 201 deepwater pipe-laying crane ship for physical survey, geological survey and drilling operations, seabed pipe laying and material support, as well as three heavy multi-purpose work ships. These ships together form a joint fleet for China's deep-sea oil and gas development, turning the once unattainable marine resources into tangible strategic reserve resources.