Deepwater Hydrocarbon Exploration in China Seas: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Deepwater area has been one of the hottest areas in the global hydrocarbon exploration. However, deepwater hydrocarbon exploration in China started late and mainly concentrated in the South China Sea (SCS) with low level of researches. Although there are some achievements, there are even more challenges. For this reason, this paper reviewed the history of deepwater exploration in China Seas and summarized the current exploration situation. The future directions of deepwater hydrocarbon exploration mainly consist of five aspects: establishing key technology system of complex structure and reservoir seismic acquisition and processing in deepwater areas of SCS, clarifying the development mechanism of high quality source rock and establishing matching assessment technology, studying the formation conditions of favorable reservoir and creating reservoir identification technology, improving accumulation theory of large and medium-sized oil and gas field of deepwater, deepening the researches of petroleum geology conditions of middle and south part of SCS. Simultaneously, the concept of portfolio should be utilized in the exploration process, with economic benefits considered. These understandings will help guiding the future deepwater hydrocarbon exploration in China Seas.