"Blue Whale 1", which undertook the successful trial production of combustible ice, is the most advanced semi-submersible drilling platform in the world, designed and built independently by CIMC Raffles Offshore Engineering Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "CIMC Raffles").
According to public information, combustible ice is mostly distributed in permafrost regions or deep-sea sediments 900 to 1200m away from the sea surface. It is an ice-like crystalline substance formed by natural gas and water at high pressure and low temperature. After burning, only a small amount of carbon dioxide and water will be produced. Compared with petroleum and natural gas, it has the advantages of convenient use, high combustion value, cleanliness and no pollution. Some experts estimate that combustible ice can be used by human beings only in the sea area 1000 years, and it is recognized as an alternative energy source for oil and natural gas.
China has one of the largest reserves of combustible ice resources. Except frozen soil, the geological resources of combustible ice in the whole South China Sea are about 70 billion tons of oil equivalent, and the prospective resource reserves can reach hundreds of billions of tons of oil equivalent, so the development prospect is very broad. However, its exploration and development still need to overcome huge technical and environmental obstacles. If the technology is not mature, it may lead to geological disasters on the seabed, and a large number of greenhouse gases on the seabed will flood into the atmosphere, which may lead to environmental crisis. Over the years, led by China Geological Survey and supported by China Petroleum and Natural Gas Corporation, China has achieved fruitful results in the fields of combustible ice investigation and exploration, trial mining technology verification and so on.
China's successful trial mining is of great significance, leading the world. The success of "Blue Whale 1" in the trial mining of combustible ice in the South China Sea indicates that China has made a major technological breakthrough in this field, paving the way for the commercial development of combustible ice and will have a major impact on China's energy structure.