At the moment when sparks were cut from the first steel plate in the factory building in Qingdao, the Bohani Oilfield in the Persian Gulf seemed to be stirred up by a new round of development. On September 15, 2026, the EPIC general contracting project for the redevelopment of Qatar's Bohani oil field began physical construction at the Qingdao International High end Equipment Manufacturing Base. CNOOC Engineering independently undertook the project, with a contract of approximately 4 billion US dollars, equivalent to 28.4 billion yuan. This is the largest amount of offshore oil and gas engineering undertaken by a domestic offshore enterprise to date.

Ten years of rooting for trust

The cooperation between China and Kazakhstan was not achieved overnight. Since 2016, CNOOC Engineering has entered the Qatar offshore oil and gas development circle, delivering key projects such as NFA, NFPS COMP2, ISND5-2, and RUYA one by one, from new construction, upgrading to renovation, thoroughly understanding the local offshore oil and gas infrastructure. Overseas projects are most afraid of long cycles, chaotic coordination, and supply chain disruptions. The pandemic has added another layer of uncertainty, but after multiple rounds of adjustment, both parties have developed a mature collaborative pace in technical breakthroughs, resource scheduling, safety control, and overall project planning. Abdulla Mesfer Al Marri, the head of the BH redevelopment project at Qatar Energy Company, appeared at the groundbreaking ceremony, which itself is a signal that industry trust has become the foundation for a large order landing.

New life in old oil fields

The Bohani oil field is located about 100 kilometers east of the Qatar coastline in the Persian Gulf, with a maximum depth of 40 meters. It has been in operation for over half a century, and its facilities have aged, resulting in a natural decline in production. However, the remaining underground reserves are still substantial. This project is not just about new construction, but involves four types of work: new construction, renovation, demolition, and underwater environment restoration. More than 60 facilities are newly built, 40 underwater pipelines and cables are laid, in-service platforms are upgraded, and abandoned platforms are dismantled simultaneously. The total amount of steel processing exceeds 130000 tons, and the entire chain of design, procurement, construction, transportation, installation, and commissioning is connected. Prefabricated components will be shipped in batches from Qingdao to continue the long-term stable production capacity of the old oil field.

Transition from subcontracting to general contracting

The overall difficulty of this task is at a high level among similar projects worldwide, but CNOOC Engineering has not followed the old path of segmented and extensive planning, and instead used integrated control, 3D modeling, and construction simulation for pre mine clearance. Behind it is a leap in enterprise hierarchy: in the early years, it was a single subcontractor, but now it can independently obtain international general contracting, and further become a comprehensive ocean energy solution provider. During the 14th Five Year Plan period, LNG from Canada, Penguin FPSO, and Marjan from Saudi Arabia were delivered consecutively; In the first half of 2026, the revenue was 12.384 billion yuan, new contracts were 21.185 billion yuan, and orders in hand were 73.3 billion yuan. The net profit of the Saudi subsidiary increased by 115.32% year-on-year, and new orders continued to be received from North America, Saudi Aramco, and Canada's McKenzie River. Tianjin Intelligent Manufacturing Base has obtained the highest grade CMMM Level 4 certification in China, with 144 technology projects under research. The cylindrical FPSO and deep-sea TLP wind power have also broken through simultaneously.keywords:Engineering infrastructure

Cutting off a steel plate reveals the gateway for Chinese offshore engineering to enter the core energy circle of the Middle East.Editor/Yang Meiling