The Exploration II oil drilling platform in Wushi oilfield. [Photo provided by CNOOC]

The Wushi oilfield, an offshore oilfield 30 kilometers to the coastline of Zhanjiang, will be completed and put into operation in 2017, according to the Zhanjiang Offshore Petroleum Tax Bureau.

The oilfield located in the South China Sea, is the first offshore oilfield in Guangdong province.

Zhanjiang people made strenuous efforts in the past 30 years to explore and develop the Wushi oilfield. The reserves in the oilfield have been verified to abundant, as the production cycle can last more than 20 years after it’s put into operation.

The China National Offshore Oil Corporation has put an investment of more than two billion yuan( about $320 million) into the construction of the oilfield, which will have an annual output of one million cubic meters of crude oil.

Offshore oil development has a relatively low production cost, which means it’s more cost-effective than deepwater oil extraction, as oil price decreased continuously.

The Wushi oilfield will bring great economic benefits to Zhanjiang when it goes into operation, a senior official of the Zhanjiang Offshore Petroleum Tax Bureau said.

The Wushi oilfield will drive the development of downstream industries in Zhanjiang, and create more than 200,000 new jobs, according to the official.

Oilfield development also plays an important role in increasing government tax revenue. According statistics from Zhanjiang Offshore Petroleum Tax Bureau, tax revenue from marine oil and gas exploration accounted for 21.98 percent of the national tax contributed by Zhanjiang, and 23.81 percent of the local government’s tax revenue.

The official also said that the government planned to join up all the gas fields in the South China Sea around the Hainan Island, and channel the gas onto shore to meet the energy demand of local enterprises and residents in Zhanjiang and other surrounding cities.

“Once the gas is sent ashore, the energy resources consumed by the power plants in Zhanjiang will be converted to natural gas, and it will also benefit the Baosteel and Sinopec projects and promote the upgrading of Zhanjiang industries,” the official said.