CPC rigs to come down

The first offshore oil field the Chinese Petroleum Corp (中油) managed to tap is set to pass into history by September when work on dismantling the now disused oil rigs that sit atop it will be completed, according to a company executive.

The three Kuokuang (國光) platforms, which sit astride the so-called CBK (長康) oil and gas field 25km off the coast of Hsinchu in west Taiwan, will be completely dismantled by September, according to a Chinese Petroleum executive who asked to remain anonymous.

Since 1972, Chinese Petroleum has been engaged in exploring offshore oil and natural gas resources. In 1986, the state-run oil company developed a CBK gas field which is located 12 nautical miles west off the coast of Hsinchu.

The platforms -- Taiwan's only offshore rigs -- ceased production in May 1995 after it was found that the amount of oil and natural gas under the ocean floor in the CBK field was far less than originally predicted.

Chinese Petroleum had believed that around three billion cubic meters of natural gas lay in the CBK field and established the Kuokuang platforms in 1986.

However, after less than 10 years of operation, the wells were virtually dry with only a total of 824.4 million cubic meters of natural gas and 388,632 kiloliters of oil condensate having been tapped.

To find and exploit subsea oil and natural gas "you have to work very hard, but luck is also very important," the executive said. "We just haven't been very lucky in recent years."

Dismantling the platforms will end Chinese Petroleum's fears that the rigs could pose a safety hazard to passing fishing and cargo vessels and fishermen the company believes have boarded the platforms.

The rigs have not posed a threat to the surrounding environment and the nine wellheads were successfully plugged in late 1999.

Chinese Petroleum explored potential oil and gas fields in the waters off Kaohsiung in the Tainan Basin in the late 1990s. But the project, conducted in cooperation with Beijing's state-run China National Offshore Oil Corp (中國海洋石油), was called off in 1998 after no significant oil or gas deposits were found.

Taiwan has scarce natural resources and must import the bulk of its energy needs.

Chinese Petroleum has drilled a total of 132 offshore wells since the company began exploration in the waters surrounding Taiwan in 1972. But only the CBK field has yielded any significant returns.