A central operating platform, three drills and four pipeline frameworks are expected to be set up during the first phase, involving 32,000 tons of steel, equivalent to the weight of a midsize aircraft carrier. Eight underwater pipelines and three underwater cables will be laid, with a total length of 150 kilometers, said Ju Wenjie, the project manager.

CNOOC said it launched an experimental project soon after the discovery of the large gas field. That project entered service in October 2020, with daily peak natural gas output up to 1 million cu m.