Standing on the deck of the Deepsea One energy station, engineers are no longer just looking at the oil and gas drilling tower. At the beginning of 2026, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) quietly included "marine characteristic mineral resources" in its "15th Five Year Plan" development goals through an internal strategic document. This means that this offshore oil and gas giant is no longer solely focused on black gold, but has set its sights on the deeper depths of the ocean - where trillion dollar metal deposits such as nickel, cobalt, and rare earths, which support the new energy revolution, lie dormant. From drilling for oil and gas to collecting metals, a deep-sea race for future energy security has begun.

Giant turns around

The strategic extension of CNOOC this time is not groundless. From March to April 2026, the Chairman of the Group, Zhang Chuanjiang, conducted intensive research on the experimental research area of marine mineral resources, and clearly required the coordinated development of oil and gas main businesses and marine minerals. For CNOOC, this is a natural choice of "capability shift". Rare metals are already present in the mud produced by offshore drilling, and their deep accumulation in deep-sea equipment and engineering operations is precisely the key to breaking through the bottleneck of underwater mining technology. The requirements of the national "15th Five Year Plan" for the development of marine resources have provided this state-owned enterprise with an opportunity to establish a unique role in the new track of marine economy.

Underwater granary

Why take the risk of diving into the depths of thousands of meters underwater? The data reveals a harsh reality: the supply of key minerals on land is facing bottlenecks of declining grade and soaring costs. According to the Roland Berger 2025 report, the demand for cobalt, nickel, and lithium may far exceed current land reserves by 2050, creating a huge gap. The nickel and cobalt reserves of seabed polymetallic nodules, cobalt rich crusts and other minerals are estimated to be over 100 times and 200 times larger than those on land, respectively. Zhang Laibin, a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, also pointed out during the 2026 Two Sessions that the brine of offshore oil and gas fields is accompanied by metals such as cesium and lithium, which are the "liquid minerals" in front of us. This blue granary has become a strategic highland for the United States, Japan, and Europe to compete for land.keywords:Infrastructure News

Chinese formation

In this global competition, China is not a novice. Before CNOOC entered the market, China Minmetals Corporation had already obtained the exploration rights for the Pacific International Submarine in 2015, and its subsidiary Changsha Institute of Mining and Metallurgy developed the world's first 6000 meter deep-sea mining vehicle in 2024. As of now, China has five international seabed exploration contract areas, with a total area of approximately 230000 square kilometers, through entities such as the Ocean Exploration Association, Minmetals, and Beijing Pioneer, making it one of the countries with the most contracts. The joining of CNOOC means that China's deep-sea mining team has expanded from "professional exploration" to a giant synergy of "oil and gas+mining". In the future, it is expected to rely on its huge offshore operation fleet to accelerate the arrival of the era of commercial mining.Editor/Yang Meiling