Development Plan for Marine Engineering Equipment Industry to be Published

Sources attending the "2010 China Offshore Oil/Gas Drilling and Engineering Equipment Summit Forum" held recently disclosed that the work of drafting of the "Development Plan for Marine Engineering Equipment in the 12th Five-Year Program Period (2011-2015)" headed by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has basically completed, and the plan is expected to be officially published soon.

During the "12th Five-Year Program" period, China will construct another 50 million tons of oil/gas production capacities on the offshore continental shelf and continental slope, thus triggering a total investment of over RMB250 billion in marine engineering equipment.

It is disclosed that though the promulgation of the plan is headed by MIIT, as it involves China's offshore energy strategy, it needs participation and cooperation of the National Energy Administration.

As marine engineering equipment has been listed as an emerging industry, it may obtain bigger policy support from the government in the fields of taxation, and finance. Meanwhile, marine engineering equipment also belongs to equipment manufacturing industry, it may also enjoy the preferential policies the government offers to equipment manufacturing industry, say the financial subsidy to the first set of equipment.

Data show that the discovery rate of sea crude oil is only 12.3% in China, and that of sea natural gas, 10.9%, lagging far behind the world's average proven rate of 73% and 60.5%, and therefore foreboding huge potentials.

It is learned that the oil/gas output of China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) shall top 100-120 million tons equivalent of oil during the "12th Five-Year Program" period, of this, the domestic oil/gas output shall reach 65-70 million tons (80 million cubic meters) equivalent of oil; and the overseas output, 20-30 million tons.

Meanwhile, the company's LNG import shall top 15-20 million tons; and coal made gas output will top 8-10 billion cubic meters. To realize these targets, CNOOC will construct another 50 million tons of production capacities on offshore continental shelf and continental slope in the next five years, and in the meantime, there will be 2-3 deep-water oil/gas fields going into operation.

It is learned that marine engineering equipment involves sea oil/gas development, marine engineering platform manufacturing, supporting equipment manufacturing, oil/gas mining service and design and contracting of oil/gas mining service and equipment. The development trend of marine engineering equipment in the future is deep-water, large scale, optimized design, use of high-strength steel, and more advanced complete set. Natural gas exploration, and drilling and mining equipment will be the focus of the development.

It is expected that in the next five years, a new equipment construction and development peak will come, and these equipment and facilities will prop up China's offshore oil industry and marine energy industry to the forefront of the world, push forward the development of domestic shipbuilding, equipment manufacturing, materials, metallurgy, and precision instruments toward "high grade, high precision and advanced technology", and foster a number of Chinese companies with international competitiveness.

It is learned that China is speeding up oil/gas resources exploration and development in South China Sea. The depth of water in the sea area is 500-2,000 meters, and China lacks the technology to prospect and drill oil/gas resources in such depth of sea area. Therefore, China urgently needs to develop deep-water oil/gas prospecting and development technologies.