CNOOC Announces 2021 Business Strategy and Development Plan

HONG KONG, Feb. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — China’s state owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), one of the most influential East Asian energy companies has announced its business strategy and development plan for the year 2021.

In the extremely challenging year of 2020, CNOOC overcame the impact caused by low oil prices and the pandemic of COVID-19 by implementing pandemic prevention and control measures, to increase its oil and gas reserves as well as production, and further reducing costs and enhancing efficiency.

Largely down to these measures, the CNOOC’s net production hit a record high of approximately 528 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) in 2020.

In 2021, CNOOC will continue its efforts in strengthening its resources base with targeted net production of 545-555 million BOE, of which, production from China and overseas account for approximately 68% and 32%, respectively.

It also plans to drill 217 exploration wells and collect approximately 17 thousand square kilometers of 3-Dimensional (3D) seismic data.

Nineteen new projects are expected to come on stream, which mainly include Lingshui 17-2 gas fields development, Lufeng oil fields regional development, Caofeidian 6-4 oil field in offshore China, Buzzard oil field phase II in the UK and Mero I oil field in Brazil.

CNOOC’s total capital expenditure for 2021 is budgeted at RMB90 billion to RMB100 billion. The capital expenditures for exploration, development and production will account for approximately 17%, 61% and 20% of the total capital expenditure, respectively.

The Company’s net production for 2022 and 2023 is projected to be 590-600 million BOE and 640-650 million BOE, respectively.

Mr. Xu Keqiang, CEO of CNOOC, said, “In 2021, under the theme of high-quality development, the Company will be committed to steadily increasing its oil and gas reserves and production, focusing on investment efficiency, maintaining its cost competitiveness, while actively pursuing the concept of green and low-carbon development, to create excellent returns for our shareholders.”