Oil rig finishes its deepest drilling, nearly 5,000 meters

World Today

A Chinese deep sea oil rig has set a number of records on its first overseas drilling operation. It started drilling in the Bay of Bengal in February. CCTV’s Xu Geng filed this report.

Highlights:

  • The company didn’t review where the rig is drilling or who is chartering it. The same drilling rig has previously drilled in waters claimed by both China and Vietnam in the South China Sea, sparking protests in Vietnam.
  • Ocean reserves account for more than 70 percent of global oil and gas resources.
  • With its huge energy demand, China has been expanding its deep water drilling. Its dependence poses a huge risk to the country’s energy security and experts say more oil rigs are needed to increase long-term energy independence.