Amoco Orient Petroleum Co., a unit of Chicago-based Amoco Corp., said Monday that contracts totaling $79 million have been signed with oil service companies for work related to the Liuhua oil field development project in the South China Sea.
A $40 million contract involves the conversion of a semi-submersible drilling barge into a floating production system, while $39 million in contracts involves the installation of the floating production system and a floating production storage and off-loading vessel.
The Liuhua oil field is 120 miles southeast of Hong Kong in the South China Sea. The development project is expected to cost $650 million, and the first oil is expected to be produced in 1996.
The field lies in 1,000 feet of water, posing technical challenges. The reservoir will be developed using 20 subsea wells horizontally drilled, a special technique. Amoco’s expertise in this area helped win the original contract for the South China Sea project.
