Celebrating 10 years of safe and consistent production from Liwan

Cenovus Energy’s Asia Pacific team recently celebrated a major milestone for the company and the region: 10 years since first gas production at our Liwan operations. Discovered in 2008, the Liwan project delivered first production on March 30, 2014 and was the first deepwater gas project offshore China. Since first gas, the asset has continued to deliver safe and consistent operating performance.

“Ten years of production is a significant milestone for any operation, and this one even more so because Liwan has operated without a major incident or injury in that time,” says Tracy Mosness, Vice President, Production and Development, Asia Pacific. “Bringing more affordable energy to the region is certainly a highlight of the asset but it’s the ingenuity and commitment of the team in the region that enables us to deliver continued responsible and profitable operations.”

Located approximately 300 kilometres southeast of Hong Kong, the Liwan block consists of three fields: Liwan 3-1, Liuhua 34-2 and Liuhua 29-1, which share a subsea production system, transportation, and gas processing infrastructure. Natural gas from the fields is then processed at an onshore gas terminal and sold to the mainland China market. Liwan, is operated by our partner, CNOOC Ltd., which includes overseeing the platform, pipeline to shore and the Gaolan Gas Terminal.

Our Liwan staff joined CNOOC staff at the Zhuhai Gaolan Terminal on April 24 to commemorate the 10-year milestone. Since first gas, the development has been expanding and growing, and as of this anniversary, has produced approximately 1,256 billion cubic feet of gas.

This anniversary comes on the heels of another achievement for the team – the production of one trillion standard cubic feet of gas sales at the Liwan 3-1 field in 2023.  A large feat considering the field was originally estimated to sell 1.06 TCF of gas and has now sold 25- 40% more gas than originally forecasted.

“Liwan has been and continues to be a high-performing and consistent source of production for Cenovus,” says Ting He, Regional Vice-President, Commercial & Strategic Partnerships. “The gas fields will keep fueling communities regionally and globally, while generating steady free funds flow for the company for another 10 years. We look forward to a very bright future in the region.”