A steel frame to support the deck and topside of the Lufeng 15-1 Oil & Gas Platform in the Pearl River Estuary is being manufactured by COOEC-Fluor Heavy Industries in the Gaolan Port Economic Zone of Zhuhai.

This is China's first design, construction, and installation of a jacket for such a depth -- 284 m (932 ft), according to Mu Ruixi, head of China National Offshore Oil Corp Lufeng Oilfield Cluster Regional Development Project's Jacket Division.

Steel jacket manufacture is well underway by COOEC-Fluor Heavy Industries in the Gaolan Port Economic Zone [Photo courtesy Southern Metropolis Daily]

The Lufeng Oilfield Cluster consists of three in-production, one re-developed, and four new oilfields southwest of Shenzhen – in the largest petroliferous sedimentary basin in the northern South China Sea. The jacket will be installed there by April 2022.

The cluster can generate tens of millions of tons of oil and gas. Its exploitation is adds to national energy security and development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

COOEC-Fluor Heavy Industries, was founded in 2015 by China Offshore Oil Engineering Co (COOEC) and Fluor, an American engineering company. The enterprise owns, operates, and manages the Zhuhai Fabrication Yard that offers comprehensive fabrications and module assemblies.

Steel jacket being pile driven into the seabed [Photo courtesy CCTV]