China's first offshore CO2 injection platform completed

The main structure of China's first offshore carbon injection project has been completed, as the new central platform for the Dongfang 1-1 gas field enters the commissioning stage on Sunday.

The demonstration project is designed to inject captured carbon dioxide into underground formations to boost natural gas production. Once operational, it will be able to permanently store more than 1 million tonnes of CO2 each year, supporting large-scale emissions reduction in China's offshore energy industry.

The central platform weighs nearly 17,000 tonnes and rises more than 28 stories high, with a total deck area of over 10,000 square meters, equivalent to nearly 22 standard basketball courts.

The platform will capture and purify CO2 produced alongside natural gas, then compress and inject it back into underground formations. The process can both improve the recovery of hard-to-extract natural gas and permanently store CO2.

The Dongfang 1-1 gas field is China's first offshore self-operated gas field and a major offshore gas field with high CO2 content. Since production began in 2003, it has produced more than 50 billion cubic meters of natural gas.

As the gas field enters the later stage of development, natural gas production has declined while CO2 content has increased, providing conditions for the application of carbon injection technology.

Once fully operational, the project will inject more than 1 million tonnes of CO2 into underground formations annually, marking the first large-scale offshore application of carbon injection technology in China and promoting the resource utilization of CO2 in industry.