VESSEL REVIEW: China Merchants Jinling Shipyard (Weihai) has completed conversion work on an offshore testing and production platform operated by China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) to enable it to be operated as a steam injection vessel in support of heavy oil extraction. 'Haiyang Shiyou 162' (“Offshore Oil 162”) has now been rebuilt and will sail under the name 'Recai Yi' (热采一号; “Thermal Recovery No 1”), thus reflecting its new role. The platform will be used to inject steam to be used in the extraction of heavy oil from offshore sites. As heavy oil is a relatively viscous and therefore poorly liquidated form of crude oil, its extraction from offshore oil wells requires the use of specialised equipment that can discharge a significant volume of steam at high pressure and high temperatures. In the case of 'Recai Yi', it was rebuilt to be able to quickly inject high-pressure steam with a temperature of more than 350 degrees Celsius into six oil wells at the same time. The viscosity of heavy oil is reduced, thus turning it into a "thinner” oil with the ideal fluidity to make it easier to extract. Full article link in comments.
