QINGDAO -- China on July 19 completed the offshore installation of its Bozhong 19-6 gas field, located in the eastern port city of Qingdao, with the accurate docking of a 12,000-ton oil and gas drilling platform and the underwater jacket.

The main platform of the gas field is 32 meters high, and around 60 meters in length and width. The deck area is close to nine standard basketball courts and can accommodate 120 people working and living at the same time.

The platform weighs 12,000 tons, which exceeds the limit of the hoisting capacity of ships at sea. Therefore, the installation team adopted the "float-over" method, which used the force of the tide to precisely install the upper platform onto the jacket.

The Bozhong 19-6 gas field, located in the eastern port city of Qingdao, is the first large and integral 100-billion cubic meter gas field in east China, with proven geological reserves of natural gas exceeding 200 billion cubic meters.

"With the completion of the float-over installation of the central platform, the overall construction progress of the first phase of the Bozhong 19-6 gas field project has exceeded 85 percent. After being put into operation within this year, it will effectively alleviate the shortage of gas in north China and provide stable and reliable clean energy and chemical products for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the Bohai Rim region," said Wen Jinlai, General Manager of the engineering construction center of China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) Tianjin Branch.