The great escape: Over 10000 offshore workers evacuated from platforms and vessels ahead of super typhoon - Upstream Online

The great escape: Over 10,000 offshore workers evacuated from platforms and vessels ahead of super typhoon | Upstream Online

State-owned offshore giant China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) over the weekend evacuated more than 10,000 workers from offshore production platforms, floating production and storage vessels, construction vessels and drilling rigs in anticipation of Typhoon Saola.

Qiu Zhimin, operation and emergency manager of CNOOC Shenzhen, which is spearheading exploration and production in the Pearl River Mouth basin of the South China Sea said his company had evacuated 7720 of its own crew members using 271 helicopter flights and 57 vessel operations.

An additional 2861 crew members were evacuated from 14 drilling rigs and 34 construction vessels employed by CNOOC's in-house drilling contractor, China Oilfield Service Ltd (COSL), in the area.

The Pearl River Mouth basin is a core area for CNOOC, where it is expanding facilities to boost hydrocarbon production.

At peak, the basin sees more than 8000 crew members working simultaneously alongside almost 80 vessels, 44 fixed production platforms and nine mobile drilling platforms.

The exact extent of production losses due to the shutdown remains uncertain.

CNOOC typically initiates evacuation procedures and production shutdowns three days before a typhoon's arrival and factors in the production losses caused by typhoons in its annual production target.

In 2022, CNOOC Shenzhen produced 129.8 million barrels of oil equivalent, accounting for 30% of CNOOC's net production in China.

However, CNOOC is adopting measures, with "smart fields" like Liuhua, Enping and the Baiyun oil and gas clusters shifting into a "typhoon mode" that allows remote operation from onshore facilities, as confirmed in a social media post on WeChat.

Moreover, CNOOC is digitising more South China Sea fields, including Panyu and Xijiang, to enable remote operations in the event of typhoon threats.

The Liuhua 16-2 complex, as the largest producing field in the sea area, has the potential to recover more than 80,000 tonnes of crude oil production losses annually when switched to typhoon production mode, according to CNOOC.

As Saola weakens, CNOOC Shenzhen has begun the gradual resumption of operations in its South China Sea fields, giving priority to those with high production levels.

The company anticipated that full operations in this region would be restored by Tuesday 5 September, a process requiring four days in total.

As of Monday evening, CNOOC had organised 103 helicopter flights to safely return 1921 crew members to their respective platforms.

Super Typhoon Saola, recognised as the most powerful storm to threaten China's Guangdong province where CNOOC Shenzhen is headquartered, struck the southern province on Saturday.

The typhoon brought with it winds exceeding 200 kilometres per hour resulting in the closure of businesses, schools and financial markets.