China opens world’s first smart oil and gas factory

A China marked a significant advancement in the oil and gas industry with the opening of the first smart manufacturing base for offshore equipment in the municipality of Tianjinin the north of the country.

The base, operated by China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (COOEC)a subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corporationcovers an area of ​​approximately 575,000 square meters along the coast of the Bohai Sea.

This facility specializes in the production of offshore oil and gas platforms and other high-quality products such as liquefied natural gas modules.

The base structure includes four intelligent production workshops, eight auxiliary centers, 16 final assembly stations, as well as key facilities such as docks that facilitate the transportation of products by large ships.

The base has more than 600 machines of intelligent production, allowing traditional processes such as material recovery, tube rolling and hydraulic cutting and bending to be automated.

According to Wang Lei, senior executive of the Tianjin branch of COOEC, the intelligent manufacturing management platform is designed to deal with the complexities of manufacturing processes that require customization and non-standard specifications.

Wang explains that significant automation allows most manufacturing to be performed by machines, with human intervention limited mainly to fine-tuning details.

The first phase of the project, which began in June 2022, has already resulted in the delivery of 35 oil and gas platforms to countries such as China e Canadatotaling more than 87,000 tons.

During the second phase of construction, the base expanded its facilities with the addition of eight final assembly stations and a smart pipe production line, as well as increasing dock capacity.

“The production efficiency of the smart pipe line has increased by about 20% compared to the first phase, and the overall production capacity has doubled with the adoption of intelligent digital manufacturing and precise management,” Wang said.

Em 2023the production of China offshore crude oil exceeded 62 million tons, an annual increase of 3.4 million tonswhich represents approximately 70% of the country’s total crude oil production increase over the past year. The Tianjin base is positioned as a crucial pillar for advancing China’s offshore production capacity on the global stage.

With information from Xinhua