A CHINESE exploration rig in the South China Sea has made its first deep sea gas discovery in the waters, domestic media announced Tuesday.

    The find in August by China National Offshore Oil Corp.’s (CNOOC’s) two-year-old, US$1 billion deep sea rig is about 150 kilometers south of China’s southernmost island of Hainan. It’s unclear whether the discovery will become commercially viable. The find was China’s first without the participation of foreign partners that in the past have included companies such as Chevron and BP, said Felix Tan, a Beijing-based analyst for energy and resources consultant Wood MacKenzie.

    The gas field was discovered Aug. 18 at a depth of about 1,500 meters, CNOOC said.

    The depth is at the extreme cusp of what the industry considers a deep-water field, or those from 400 to 1,500 meters. Below 1,500 meters would be ultra-deep, where extraordinary pressures make the building of facilities extremely difficult.

    Xinhua said the field’s viability is still to be proven, but quoted a CNOOC manager, Xie Yuhong, as saying the well could be capable of producing up to 56.5 million cubic feet of gas per day, or about 9,400 barrels.(SD-Agencies)