Technical Progress and Development Suggestions for Risk Assessment and Safety Control of Deep-Water Oil and Gas Exploitation

Deep-water is the main battlefield of international oil and gas exploration and development and the pinnacle of technological competition. Although the deep-water oil and gas resources in the South China Sea are abundant, they confront a harsher marine environment, more complex shallow geological disasters, more challenging deep geological regimes, and more demanding exploitation conditions. In addition, the disaster-triggering mechanisms are complicated, and the operational risk is high. Hence, a technical system for risk assessment and safety control of oil and gas exploitation in the South China Sea is the key to ensuring the safe and efficient development of deep-water oil and gas. In this paper, a system for the basic theory and key technologies to assess the risks of deep-water oil and gas exploitation in the South China Sea was established on the basis of technical breakthroughs and engineering practice. Aiming to tackle the challenges of the marine environment, shallow-formation hazards, deep-formation geology, and gas well exploitation risks confronted, this system incorporated key technologies regarding the risk assessment and control of the deep marine environment, deep-water shallow geological disaster prediction and control, deep-water well control and emergency rescue, safety detection and monitoring protocols for exploitation facilities in deep-water oil and gas operations, etc. Moreover, major problems seeking urgent solutions were pointed out for such to-be-explored areas as ultra-deep water, deep formations in deep water, and the open sea. These problems included high operational risks of complex wells, dependence on the import of key and core equipment and engineering software, demanding requirements for deep-water safety and environmental protection, and an urgent need for digital and intelligent transformation, etc. On this basis, the following development suggestions were put forward: continuous pursuit of intrinsic safety, localization of key equipment and engineering software, stronger efficient risk prevention and control and emergency response capabilities, and intelligent safety, etc. These suggestions are expected to promote the technical advance in risk assessment and safety control of deep-water oil and gas exploitation and achieve safe, efficient, independent, and controllable exploitation of deep-water oil and gas in the South China Sea.