Proceedings of the Thirty-second (2022) International Ocean and Polar Engineering Conference
Shanghai, China, June 5–10, 2022
Copyright © 2022 by the International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers (ISOPE)
ISBN 978-1-880653-81-4; ISSN 1098-6189

www.isope.org

Innovation Conceptual Design on Carbon Neutrality Deepwater Drilling Platform
Liangbin Xu1, Jinlong Wang1, Deqiang Tian1, Yuting Li2
1 CNOOC Research Institute Ltd., Beijing, China.
2 China University of Petroleum (Beijing), Beijing, China

CCUS project led by SINOPEC is also under construction. China is alarge marine country with great potential to use the ocean to store CO2.
The carbon dioxide offshore reinjection project implemented by
CNOOC in Enping 15-1 oilfield on August 2021 will permanently store
more than 1.46 million tons of carbon dioxide However, the CCUS
technology of offshore oil field is in the preliminary exploration stage
and some relevant technologies are not mature.

ABSTRACT
Deepwater drilling platform consumes much chemical and petroleum
sources to provide sufficient energy for drilling services, which
produces a large amount of carbon dioxide emissions into theatmosphere directly. To reduce the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions andachieve the carbon neutrality target, carbon neutrality deepwater
drilling platform concept is proposed. The carbon dioxide emissions
need be captured and stored on the seabed. Some innovation conceptual
designs for Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) on
deepwater drilling platform are conducted and present. An integrated
design concept for combination of deepwater supercritical CO2 (SCCO2) drilling, CO2 capture and storage is developed as an importantmeasure to achieve carbon neutrality target for deepwtaer drilling
platform. Other physical adsorption separation and storage concepts forCO2 emissions based on drilling riser is projected. The prospective andfundamental study on carbon neutrality deepwater drilling platform isof great reference and value for deepwater drilling engineeringdevelopment in the background of global effort for carbon neutrality.

On the other hand, as an important operation part of deepwater oil andgas development, deepwater drilling operation consumes a large
amount of diesel to provide power to maintain the daily operation of theplatform and meet the needs of drilling operations, but it inevitablyproduces a large number of greenhouse gases. In the past, carbon
reduction of offshore drilling platforms was ignored. Table 1 shows theestimated CO2 discharge of a typical deepwater drilling platform. If
CO2 capture and storage are applied on deepwater drilling platform, theCO2 emission of the platform can be effectively reduced. It is estimatedthat a single platform can reduce 68,000 tons of CO2 emission every
year, which will help realize the target of carbon peak and carbon
neutralization as soon as possible, with significant social benefits.
Generally, CCUS technology in China's offshore oil and gas field isstill in the reaseach and demonstration stage. There are technology andcost risks in various stages such as capture, transportation, utilizationand storage. Research on new technologies and innovation ideas for
CCUS in deepwater drilling operation are encouraged.

KEY WORDS: Carbon neutrality; deepwater drilling platform;
SC-CO2 drilling; CCUS.
INTRODUCTION
As an emerging and important technology for sustainable development,
carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) has attracted theattention of the international community (Franklin, 2018). United States,
Canada and the European Union consider CCUS as an important part oftheir future energy strategy. Many well-known oil and gas companies
such as Shell, Total, Chevron, ExxonMobil and Equinor have invested
a lot of capital on the operation and planning of CCUS projects. The
research on CCUS in China started late and put forward relevant
concepts at the early 21st century. In recent years, China has madesome progress in the research and development of CCUS technology inthe onshore oil industry. PetroChina Jilin Oilfield has put forward theintegrated model of CCS-EOR emission reduction and efficiency
increase, but it is still in the experimental stage. The first megaton

Table 1. Estimated CO2 discharge of typical deepwater drilling
platform
ItemValue

921

Daily diesel consumption of platform

60t/day

CO2 combustion of diesel per ton

3.115tNo. of deepwater drilling platforms of CNOOC

15

Estimated carbon emission during drilling single well
Estimated annual cumulative carbon emission ofeach platform

12,600t
68,000t/yr