CNOOC released news on April 20th that the first domestic production line of subsea seismic exploration node collection equipment was put into operation in Tianjin, marking the industrial manufacturing of subsea seismic exploration node collection equipment with independent intellectual property rights in China, and a key step in the field of high-end offshore oil and gas exploration equipment, which will greatly improve the exploration accuracy of deep-sea deep oil and gas reservoirs and the level of dynamic monitoring of subsea oil reservoirs in mature oil fields.

The collection equipment of subsea seismic exploration nodes is like a “geometer" placed in the deep sea. It can receive seismic waves that are 150 times smaller than the sound of mosquitoes from formations at a depth of 10,000 meters, and accordingly portray high-definition reservoir data information. It is the key core equipment for deep-sea oil and gas exploration and development.

“After industrial manufacturing, the amount of data we obtain per unit area is 3 times higher than that of conventional exploration equipment, and the signal-to-noise ratio is increased by 30%, which can greatly improve the imaging accuracy of complex geological structures and oil and gas reservoirs."Ruan Fuming, technical head of CNOOC's Geophysical Exploration Division, said.

Seabed seismic exploration is a rapidly emerging offshore oil and gas exploration technology in recent years, and its application in the field of reservoir monitoring has achieved remarkable results.As an important equipment in the field of offshore oil and gas exploration, China's subsea seismic exploration node collection equipment has long relied on imports. It is not only expensive, but also limited in terms of equipment technical performance. Equipment with a depth of more than 300 meters is only rented and not sold to our country, which seriously restricts the process of offshore oil and gas exploration and development in our country.

In order to solve this difficult problem, CNOOC has concentrated its efforts to overcome a number of key core technologies and equipment focusing on the development of deep-water oil and gas fields, and accelerated the independent research and development of subsea nodes and the construction of industrialization capabilities.After three years of technical research, the scientific research team has successively overcome a number of key core technologies such as ultra-low-power circuits and ultra-low-frequency detectors, and developed subsea “geometers” suitable for different depths from shallow water to deep water to ultra-deep water above 1,500 meters, which can meet the future needs of subsea seismic exploration in major sea areas of our country, and further improve the independent and controllable offshore oil and gas exploration equipment system.

Zhou Bin, general manager of CNOOC's Geophysical Exploration Division, said that after the application of node acquisition equipment for seabed seismic exploration, the high-quality seismic data obtained is equivalent to a super nuclear magnetic test of the seabed, which allows geologists to see the structure of the seabed more clearly, and greatly enhances our country's ability to explore offshore oil and gas reservoirs.

It is understood that the first batch of 6,000 sets of industrially manufactured products will be fully launched in China's waters in June this year. After being put into use, the development cycle of offshore oil and gas fields can be significantly shortened and the cost of exploration and development can be reduced.