Haiyang Shiyou 981 oil rig:enters disputed weaters

China's Maritime Safety Administration said on January 20 it would be drilling roughly 140 km (87 miles) south of the resort city Sanya on China's Hainan island, and 150 km (93 miles) west of the Paracel Islands that China occupies and Vietnam claims.   It is 210 km (130 miles) from the coast of Vietnam, which places it in roughly the same area as between June and October 2015.

The agency said it would be operating there until March 10 and warned ships to stay 2,000 m (6,562 ft) away.   China considers most of the South China Sea to be under its jurisdiction but Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have competing claims. About $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes through the waters each year.




[August 25 2015 Haiyang Shiyou 981 oil rig:  110 nautical miles east of the Vietnam coast ]

Maritime Safety Administration said that  Haiyang Shiyou 981 would continue drilling until October 20.   The rig’s intended coordinates put it roughly 110 nautical miles east of the Vietnam coast and 72 nautical miles south of the resort city of Sanya on China’s Hainan Island.

[March 3  its first overseas deepsea exploration well]

The $1-billion, semi-submersible giant drilling rig started drilling on Feb. 7 in a water depth of 1,721 metres, in.   The same drilling rig had previously drilled in waters claimed by both China and Vietnam in the South China Sea. "Haiyang Shiyou" literally means "offshore oil".
The well offshore Myanmar is targeting a depth of 5,000 metres from the surface of the sea.     China National Petroleum Company (CNPC) is chartering the rig and is the operator of the offshore oil block in the Andaman Sea.   Myanmar authorities awarded to CNPC in early 2007 three deepwater blocks AD-1, AD-6 and AD-8, with a total area of 10,000 square kilometres.

[July 18 2014 China's National Petroleum Corp moved the rig back into Chinese territory July 15]

China's National Petroleum Corp moved Haiyang Shiyou 981 oil rig back into Chinese territory July 15.

Kang Lin, of China's National Institute for South China Sea Studies, said a "good amount" of energy reserves with "huge commercial value" were found and he expected Chinese ships would return to the area near the disputed Paracel Islands - which China calls the Xisha Islands and Vietnam calls the Hoang Sa Islands - because signs of oil and gas were found.   Artificial islands that China had been building would be the base for logistics for further operations, Kang said.

The original three-month schedule was planned to allow for any impact from typhoons. But work had carried on without the need for any suspensions over the past two months.

The announcement came a day after Barack Obama had a phone call with President Xi Jinping . Last week, the US Senate passed a resolution calling on claimants in the disputed waters to freeze activities.

But there was no sign the moving of the rig was related to the phone call or the Senate resolution.   http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1555221/china-says-oil-rig-finishes-mission-waters-vietnam

[May 18]

Passenger ship "WU ZHI SHAN" leaves for Vietnam from Xiuying port in Haikou

Passenger ship "WU ZHI SHAN" leaves for Vietnam from Xiuying port in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province, May 18, 2014.

China began on Sunday to send five ships to evacuate Chinese nationals caught in a deadly anti-China violence in Vietnam, the Ministry of Transport has said. "Wuzhishan" was the first ship leaving for Vietnam.


 Name of the ship WU ZHI SHAN
 Type of ship RO-RO/PASSENGER SHIP
   IMO number 9734458 MMSI 413523180
 Gross tonnage 10940 tons DWT 2073 tons Year of build 2013 Builder KOUAN SHIPBUILDING - TAIZHOU JIANGSU, CHINA
Flag CHINA
Home port HAINAN
Manager & owner STRAIT SHIPPING - HAINAN, CHINA

 China is sending five ships to evacuate Chinese nationals from Vietnam following a wave of anti-Chinese riots. The Chinese government has already evacuated more than 3,000 people, Chinese state-run media report


. [May 9]

During a visit to Hanoi May 8, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel urged both sides to "refrain from unilateral actions,” adding the global economy is "too fragile to brook the possibility of a crisis that could escalate into conflict." "Every country has the right to advocate for its position and for its claims to territorial sovereignty. However, the consistent position of the U.S. is that advocacy must be diplomatic and the means for advancing one's claims must be consistent with international law, including the U.N. convention on the law of the sea," Russel said. He said the onus is on China to define its claims in a manner that’s consistent with the convention. He said the Vietnamese officials with whom he discussed the issue accepted that the U.S. does not take a position on the relative merits of the sovereignty claims. [May 8]

 a notice issued by China's Maritime Safety Administration on May 3, which said the rig would be operating within a one-mile radius of 15-29.58N/111-12.06E for "South China Sea drilling work" from May 2 to August 15 this year.

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters: "Given the recent history of tensions in the South China Sea, China's decision to operate its oil rig in disputed waters is provocative and unhelpful to the maintenance of peace and stability in the region."

"These events point to the need for claimants to clarify their claims in accordance with international law, and reach an agreement ... about what types of activities should be permissible within disputed areas,"

The Vietnamese government and state-owned PetroVietnam have objected to drilling operations by China National Offshore Oil Corp. in the South China Sea, saying that a rig owned by the Chinese company is in Vietnamese waters. Vietnam's foreign ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh said Sunday that CNOOC's deepwater rig Haiyang Shiyou 981 had been dispatched into Vietnam's waters. "Any activity conducted by foreign countries in Vietnam?s waters without its permission is illegal and has no value," Binh said in a government statement. Binh's response was to a notice issued by China's Maritime Safety Administration on May 3, which said the rig would be operating within a one-mile radius of 15-29.58N/111-12.06E for "South China Sea drilling work" from May 2 to August 15 this year. Binh said the location identified in the notice was "totally within Vietnam's exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, about 120 miles from its coast." The drilling area overlaps Vietnam's block 143 and is 119 miles off the Vietnamese central coast, PetroVietnam-run Petrotimes daily said in a report Sunday. The acreage is located near Vietnamese blocks 118, 119 and 144. The first two blocks were previously awarded to ExxonMobil and the third to Murphy Oil by PetroVietnam. PetroVietnam said it had sent a letter of protest to CNOOC and requested it to stop its operations and move the rig away from Vietnamese waters, according to the statement by the Vietnam government. What fun for the lawyers

Rough Google translation from Vietnamese of Petro Times 05.08.2014 

(PetroTimes) - In 2 days, 7 and 8/5, while the water is boiling so brazen act of hegemonic China is on some Internet forums, social networking appears the idea that: The drag China Sea rig 981 in Vietnam's actions can be explained. These people cite some knowledge from the International Convention on the beach to say: 1 - In waters 12 nautical miles from the baselines: This is the area we have "sovereignty" and "jurisdiction" while other states have "right through to no harm." That is their Chinese vessels wandering about, we do not have the right to expel, or prevent threats. They did not need to ask permission. Unless we discover they have these problems detrimental to our sovereignty then we execute "sovereign right" to chase them away. 2 - From territorial waters, widened to 188 nautical miles (or 200 nautical miles from the baseline) as its exclusive economic zone, the waters that we have sovereign rights to perform the operation. At the same time, Vietnam has jurisdiction to agree or disagree to exploit other countries. However, China is the freedom to ships, aircraft operating in the area can match the freedom of navigation and aviation. This information is the conclusion: The HD 981 make a journey "through" exclusive economic zone or on the 12 nautical mile territorial sea adjacent to the slopes of Vietnam is also acceptable provided that they are not threats or exploit natural resources in such waters. This idea also justify the huge floating rig 981 can be understood as a means of sea - so it's going to be normal. Rig 981. From this perspective, we can immediately see the false information they need adjustment. First: There is no Chinese drilling rig 981 in the exclusive economic zone of Vietnam a "carefree", happened to pass by without anything ploy. The first is the day 3/5, on the website of the China Customs Department has taken some 14 033 maritime warning about Oceanic 981 rigs (HD 981) "operation in the South China Sea". The warning said, from 2/5 to 15/8, 981 HD rig will coordinate activities at 150 29'N / 1110 12'E. Blocks all types of vehicles are not entering HD 981 active areas within a radius of 1 mile. In accordance with the coordinates on the HD 981 rig in Block 143 infringed on the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf of Vietnam, Ly Son island 119 nautical miles (221km) south of the island and Tri Ton of pants Vietnam's Paracel island about 18 nautical miles. This area is entirely located in the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf of Vietnam. As such, can not understand that China is the well-drilling "go through" the waters of Vietnam. That the purpose of exploration, exploitation and the ban was made clear. In this case, China has replaced the arrogant show host "sovereignty" and "jurisdiction". This is the first unruly. Notice no sail rig operating near 981 by the China Customs Bureau. Second: The Chinese ship carrying 38, including warships into the exclusive economic zone of Vietnam to protect the rig 981. This is not international waters or territorial sea of ​​China to this country have the right to ship with the aim of aggression on the ships of other countries. In this case, to take the waters with Vietnam to host aggression is even more impossible. This is totally contrary to the rights "movement is not harmful to the host country" in the Convention on the Law of the Sea. Third: It is the recognition means 981 as a mobile water (same ship) is the lack of awareness and actual machinery. In fact, the main General Maritime Corporation China Petroleum (CNOOC) announced drilling rig 981 is - there is no excuse that we must try to infer it is "ship". With all the preparation in terms of tactics, diplomacy, aggression ... China showed that this job really intentional and hegemonic ambitions. That those who have hegemonic ambitions often seek to go beyond the law. Let me explain some more information for you to read that China's actions are wrong about international law and is what Vietnam as well as international opinion is never acknowledged. So, the justification on a number of forums is not necessary and should cease immediately to avoid public confusion.

  A Chinese ship rams a Vietnamese ship in Vietnam’s water  

[April 2013]

China's first locally-built deepsea drilling rig has returned to work in a South China Sea gas field after almost two months of repairs, according to state-owned rig owner CNOOC.

The $1 billion rig Hai Yang Shi You (or Offshore Oil) 981 was being chartered by Canada's Husky Energy, which operates the Liwan project in the western part of South China Sea, a major offshore gas discovery, industry officials said.

"Leaks have been repaired and maintenance works finished. Offshore Oil 981 has returned to works at Liwan 3-1 gas field,"

[May 9 2012]
CNOOC has spudded its debut deep-water well.  Hai Yang Shi You - 981 or Marine Oil 981 has  been recently been moved into place 320 kilometers (or 198 miles) southeast of Hong Kong, at the northern end of the South China Sea and within the country's Exclusive Economic Zone. Operations at the rig are slated to begin 

"For to be strengthened to safeguard the state sovereignty, the maritime law enforcement. Safe operation of the hole must be ensured as well. Following the conventions of maritime safety laws, a water of 500 meters will be marked out around the hole. A trip of foreign vessels, including fishing boats, are prohibited in this water. "


[April 19]China National Offshore Oil Corp, the country's biggest marine oil producer, signed a production-sharing contract on April 18 with Eni China BV for a deepwater block in the South China Sea.
Italy-based Eni will operate the 30/27 block, which has a total area of 5,130 square kilometers and lies 400 kilometers off the coast of Hong Kong.
Eni will conduct three-dimension seismic surveys and drill one exploration well in the block and cover all expenditures during the exploration period.
CNOOC will have up to a 51 percent interest in any commercial discoveries in the block.Since China's near-shore area offers very limited potential for further oil and gas exploration, it's imperative for the company to go to deepwater projects.
CNOOC is testing its first domestic semi-submersible drilling rig, the Haiyang Shiyou 981, which is capable of operating at a maximum water depth of 3,000 meters, as part of its ambitions to achieve deepwater output of 50 million tons of oil equivalent by 2020. more

HAI YANG SHI YOU 981 finds gas outside disputed area

China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) has announced its first deepwater gas field discovery in the South China Sea,. The discovery was made by HAI YANG SHI YOU 981 MO: 9480344 .

The newly discovered gas field, dubbed Lingshui 17-2, is located 150 kilometers south of Hainan — in other words, not in a disputed area of the South China Sea.





[June 23 2011 Marine Oil 981: semisub rig to Spratly Islands]



Marine Oil 981, HAI YANG SHI YOU 981, 船主, will begin testing this week for the first time in preparation for its deployment to the South China Sea in July. 48.1 miles Northeast bearing 66° from Zhoushan, Zhejiang, China
The deployment of the semi-submersible platform comes as tensions rise in the hotly contested South China Sea. Shortly after China announced the completion of the platform — which took more than three years to build and cost more than $900 million. The oil rig is 114 m long, 140 m high and weighs 31,000 t. According to China State Shipbuilding Company, the deepwater platform is capable of drilling in waters up to 3,000 m deep, and of using a drill that goes as deep as 12,000 m.
China's ambassador to the Philippines, Liu Jianchao, has insisted China's intentions were peaceful and said that China was not looking for oil in the disputed waters and, therefore, no other country should. Philippine Daily Inquirer
2009 China Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding H1188 CNOOC Hai Yang Shi You 981 ABS Semi Sub Drilling Rig IMO: 9480344



Name: HAI YANG SHI YOU 981
Ex-names: 6 FMZ AF
MMSI: 413464330
IMO: 9480344
Callsign: BYDG
Flag: China

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China's CNOOC Iceland ehf granted dragon zone license

Dreki Area South of Jan Mayen

licencing area outlined in red - Iceland

Iceland’s national energy authority Orkustofnun has granted a new offshore licence to CNOOC Iceland ehf. as operator with 60 % share, Eykon Energy ehf with 15 % share and Petoro Iceland AS with 25 % share.

The Jan Mayen Ridge, including the part covered by the northern Dreki area, is thought to have potential for hydrocarbon accumulations because of its geological similarity to hydrocarbon basins which were its next door neighbours prior to the opening of the northeast Atlantic ocean basin. The basins in question are the Jameson Land Basin onshore East Greenland, where oil is known to have been generated and preserved in sandstone bodies, and basins offshore western Norway, Shetland and in the North Sea, where oil and gas has been discovered in commercial quantities.

[August 9 2013]

 08/05/2013

Undiscovered recoverable resources on the Norwegian Continental Shelf are an estimated 935 million to 5,420 million standard cu m of oil equivalent (scmoe), the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate estimated last month. The estimate embraces the entire NCS except for a new area in the northeastern Barents Sea acquired under a recent maritime delimitation treaty between Norway and Russia. The undiscovered recoverable average volume of 2,980 million scmoe is 410 million higher than the previous NPD estimate in 2011.

In a  statement at a press conference in Oslo as the Labor Party started its the run for the elections, the party proposed that all oil and gas in the unopened areas in the Barents Sea and around Jan Mayen and Svalbard be left untouched "for years to come" meaning that Norwegian government will not invest in companies involved in oil, coal, shale and tar sands and that the Fund will not invest in companies that are labeled as climate offenders .

[July 9] 
Chinese oil company CNOOC International Ltd. will participate in the application by Icelandic company Eykon Energy to the National Energy Authority of Iceland (NEA), Orkustofnun, in the second round of licensing for the Dragon Zone (Drekasvæði), as stated on the agency’s website.
Norway has the right to a 25 percent participation in all licenses granted in the area according to a 1981 agreement between Norway and Iceland.

In January, the first two licenses were issued, one to Faroe Petroleum Norge AS as an operator with a 67.5 percent share, Íslenskt Kolvetni ehf. with a 7.5 percent share and Petoro Iceland with a 25 percent share and the other to Valiant Petroleum ehf. as an operator with a 56.25 percent share, Kolvetni ehf. with a 18.75 percent share and Petoro Iceland AS with a 25 percent share.   Petoro Iceland AS, is a daughter company of Norwegian state oil company Petoro, was granted two licenses in the area between Iceland and Jan Mayen.
 Oil majors including Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron and Total , as well as London-listed Tullow Oil , Sweden's Lundin Petroleum, Norway's Det norske and Japan's Idemitsu, have bought seismic data on potential oil and gas resources off Jan Mayen island in the Arctic, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate. has gathered since 2011.
The NPD mapped out the sea bed around Jan Mayen island, situated to the east of Greenland and north of Iceland, and thinks it could contain some 566 million barrels of oil equivalent in reserves. 

HaiYang ShiYou 201: pipelayer for 901 rig sea trials

The new 2.8-billion yuan-vessel, which can lay pipes at depths of 3000 meters and lift 4,000 metric tons, will officially operate at the South China Sea's Liwan 3-1 gas field, which has water depths of 1,500 meters.


First, however, it will undergo a one-month trial in shallower waters, where it will lay about 1.5 kilometers of pipe for testing.  Liwan 3-1 is the country's first deepwater natural gas field, and was discovered by Husky Energy Inc in 2006. It is set to start commercial production next year to supply gas to Zhuhai in Guangdong province.


The pipe-laying crane ship, together with the deepwater drilling platform, will help the company go from shallow waters to the more challenging deepwater, and protect China's energy security and national interests in the territorial waters.   The vessel, known as Hai Yang Shi You 201, which started undergoing construction in September 2009, is part of CNOOC's deepwater fleet, which cost the company a total of 11.5 billion yuan ($1.8 billion).


The fleet, which has six vessels, is designed to meet the country's requirements to explore deepwater areas for sustainable energy supplies, said Jin Xiaojian, general manager of CNOOC's engineering department.


The construction pace accelerated in 2006 when the Liwan 3-1 field was discovered, boosting the company's confidence in the existence of oil and gas in the South China Sea, Jin said.




The drilling rig, the outfit's "flagship", officially started operating at the Liwan 6-1-1 field located 320 kilometers to the southeast of Hong Kong, marking the country's new era of deepwater exploration in the South China Sea.


The area is estimated to have about 16 trillion cubic meters of natural gas and about 30 billion tons of oil, which would account for one-third of China's total oil and gas resources, CNOOC has said.
9555371 HAI YANG SHI YOU 201 Offshore Construction 25448 2010


Ship Type: Crane ship
Year Built: 2012
Length x Breadth: 204 m X 39 m
Gross Tonnage: 53350, DeadWeight: 25448 t
Speed recorded (Max / Average): 5.8 / 5.8 knots
Flag: China [CN] 
Call Sign: BFAG3
IMO: 9555371, MMSI: 413302380

HAI YANG SHI YOU 981 near Pearl River Mouth

CNOOC Ltd, CNOOC's listed arm and the country's near monopoly offshore player, is preparing to drill its first-ever deepsea well in the northern part of the South China Sea around the beginning of 2012 -- some six months behind an earlier plan. CNOOC geologists said in September that they have identified several major oil and gas structures through advanced seismic surveys, largely in two basins -- Qiongdongnan and Pearl River Mouth, both in the northern parts of the South China Sea.The mouth of the Pearl River forms a large bay in the southeast of the delta, the Zhujiang Kou. This bay separates Macau and Zhuhai from Hong Kong and Shenzhen. CNOOC Ltd would be using "Offshore 981", China's first home-made semi-submersible deepsea rig that cost 6 billion yuan ($940 million) to build. back

HAI YANG SHI YOU 981, 船主 nears Okinawa

Hong Kong-listed CNOOC and international partners including Canada's Husky Energy Inc [under Ka-Shing Li] and U.S. company Chevron Corp will step up exploration of the deepsea waters in the South China Sea in coming years, with the first major production from the Liwan gas project operated by Husky.

The companies would mostly drill in the northern part of the South China Sea, industry officials and analysts have said, staying away from politically sensitive waters to the south to avoid territorial rows with neighbors such as Vietnam and the Phillippines.

"981 will start drilling late this month or in January," said a company official, referring to the country's first and only homemade deepsea rig Offshore Oil 981, which is designed to operate at a water depth of 3,000 metres and to drill up to 10,000 metres.


It was reported that Li Ka Shing second son, Richard Li Tzar Kai was courting Emperor Entertainment Group female starlet, Isabelle Leung

HAI YANG SHI YOU 981, 船主 drillship gone south

CNOOC 981 is moving South at 4 knots from Shanghai, presumably on sea trials. In May,2011, CNOOC announced plans to deploy its first floating drilling platform to waters within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) claimed by the Philippines.
Marine Oil 981, HAI YANG SHI YOU 981, 船主 may be headed for Spratly Islands and a conflict with Vietnam.
2011-12-01 20:28 HAI YANG SHI YOU 981 29.21839 123.1751 3.7 181
2011-12-01 18:21 HAI YANG SHI YOU 981 29.34051 123.1904 3.4 183
2011-12-01 13:29 HAI YANG SHI YOU 981 29.6417 123.2491 4.1 187
2011-12-01 10:20 HAI YANG SHI YOU 981 29.86356 123.3032 4.2 186
2011-12-01 00:22 HAI YANG SHI YOU 981 30.42981 123.0966 4.5 168
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CNOOC 981: "whirlpool of disputes" - China Daily

The China Daily has criticized the US position articulated by Secretary Clinton at the ASEAN meeting:

Clinton's remarks will do nothing but further complicate the issue and push the region into the whirlpool of disputes again. If the rest of the world heeds her words, peace and stability in the South China Sea will be a castle in the air

.
it is regarded as the English-language advocate for the government and is often used as a guide to official policy.
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HAI YANG SHI YOU 981: another for Petrochina

The $30 billion behemoth, Marine Oil 981, is designed to drill 800 deepwater wells that will produce $50 billion worth of oil annually by 2020. A similar floating rig is being built for PetroChina.

Deputy director Zhong Ziran of the national Geological Survey told reporters in January that his agency's annual spending for oil and gas exploration will rise tenfold, to 500 million yuan ($60 million). Sixty percent of that amount will support offshore projects, he adds. That's money to deploy platoons of scientists or defray the cost of dives by China's Jiaolong, a submersible capable of exploring to 5,000 meters' depth. A year ago the Jiaolong planted a Chinese flag in a South China Sea canyon 3,759 meters below sea level.
In November 2010, CNOOC told reporters that it has budgeted 200 billion yuan for development in the South China Sea. Leveraging the skills of foreign partners Devon Energy, Husky Energy and Anadarko Petroleum, CNOOC explained, it aimed to build up its capacity to drill in ever deeper water.

Beijing has warned Exxon-Mobil and BP to give up any thought of drilling in concessions granted by Vietnam close to the Spratly or Paracel archipelagos - though well within Vietnam's EEZ. BP chose not to drill; Exxon says it is going ahead. US Government analysts put the potential hydrocarbon bounty of the South China Sea area at 14 times China's current oil reserves and 10 times its gas reserves.

Whatever oil and gas turns out to be beneath the waves, hard evidence is mounting that China aims to find and secure by far the lion's share.


Another 30 billion yuan annually for "domestic" exploration is reportedly funneled through the national oil companies - CNOOC, Sinopec and PetroChina.



Up until now, China's offshore drilling has been limited to relatively shallow waters near its coast, employing 'jack-up rigs' that are planted on the seabed. In May, however, CNOOC announced plans to deploy its first floating drilling platform to waters within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) claimed by the Philippines.
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