China finds its first ‘deep-deep’ gas field in South China Sea

A Chinese oil company has claimed finding the country’s first “deep-deep” gas field in western South China Sea with a reserve of over 50 billion cubic meters.

The gas field, named “Baodao 21-1”, was discovered after drilling 5,188 meters into the seabed, 1,570 meters from the water surface.

Common definition of a deep-water gas field requires the field to be more than 300 meters under water, and a gas well as deep as 3,500 meters can be called a deep well.

The Baodao 21-1 gas field meets both definitions, thus can be called a deep-deep field.