The history of offshore oil development can be traced back to 1887, when the United States drilled the world's first offshore exploration well several meters off the coast of California. Until the 50s of the 20th century, human exploration and development of offshore oil was still in the offshore range, with an operating water depth of less than 10 meters, and the exploitation method was no different from land oil extraction.

Since the 50s of the 20th century, with the gradual recovery of the global economy, the speed of offshore oil and gas development has been continuously improved, and the development technology has also been continuously developed. The traditional mining methods of using fixed platforms or artificial islands are no longer suitable for the conditions of increasing operating water depths, and mobile drilling units, floating production systems and subsea production systems have emerged. By the 60s, the operating water depth of offshore oil development had exceeded 200 meters, in the 70s and 80s it exceeded 500 meters, and in the 90s it was close to 2000 meters.

The development of deep-sea oil extraction technology has made offshore oil an important part of the global oil supply, and by the beginning of the 21st century, offshore oil production has reached 1/3 of global oil production. With the gradual exhaustion of onshore oil exploration potential, offshore oil exploration has become the greatest hope for mankind to solve the oil supply problem. The UK's North Sea, Gulf of Mexico, West Africa, South America, Australia's continental shelf, and China's East and South China Seas have all become hotspots for offshore oil exploration and development.

China's offshore oil development began in the 50s of the last century, and in 1965, China's first offshore oil and gas discovery well was drilled at a depth of 15 meters on the Yingge coast. Since the 80s, China has intensified its efforts in offshore oil exploration and development, but due to technical limitations, China's offshore oil development mostly relies on cooperation with foreign countries, and the development area is mainly concentrated in shallow waters.

As a traverser, Feng Xiaochen certainly knows that China will definitely advance into the East China Sea and the South China Sea in the future to develop those deep-sea resources that have belonged to China since ancient times. At the same time, China will also go global and work with the less developed countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America to develop their offshore oil resources. In order to accomplish these development activities, the most important thing is to firmly grasp the development technology, including oil exploration technology, but also deep-sea oil extraction technology. The development of deep-sea drilling platforms is an important part of this.

As early as ten years ago, Feng Xiaochen was already laying out the research and development of deep-sea drilling platforms. He decomposed and contracted this task to dozens of equipment manufacturing enterprises, using the technique of carrots and sticks, and asked them to spend some funds to carry out pre-research on this technology. Luo Ye is also one of the companies undertaking the task of developing a deep-sea drilling platform, which was proposed as a condition for the equipment company to help Luo Ye connect with other businesses, and if Luo Ye does not accept this task, then do not expect to get other business from the equipment company.

Speaking from the heart, back then, Luo Ye's leaders had great opinions on Feng Xiaochen's request, and they questioned him more than ten or eight times in person, and scolded his mother behind his back countless times. The reason why Luo Ye's leaders were reluctant to accept this task was very simple, that is, they felt that this was completely just throwing money into the water, and it was thrown into the deep sea, and if they threw it down, they would never be able to get it back. The technology of offshore oil development is very complex, and the research and development of each technology is a bottomless pit, and no sound can be heard when throwing no amount of money, but the general manager of the equipment company forces them to throw money, how can this not make them annoyed.

But annoyance is annoyance, the situation is stronger than people, Feng Xiaochen can find business for various companies in a different way, and he can also unite everyone to compete with foreign large enterprises, this alone is enough to make people worship. Feng Xiaochen asked them to complete these pre-research work, no matter how big their opinions were, they could only follow them, no matter what, Feng Xiaochen gave them much more money than they were asked to spend.

In the past ten years, the projects that were groping in the dark have gradually gained some eyebrows, and each company has mastered a lot of technology. In the new century, China's economy has successfully completed its transformation, and in addition to the benefits brought about by WTO accession, all walks of life have begun to exert their efforts in an all-round way. The deep-sea oil development project, which originally thought it was incomparably far away, was suddenly approved by the National Development and Reform Commission, and hundreds of billions of funds were smashed over, which made all relevant departments panic.

Petroleum exploration, oil exploitation, oil storage and transportation, as well as offshore operations, deep-water operations, marine life support, marine environmental protection, etc., are all big topics and projects. As long as you can get the technology, the oil sector has money, billions of dollars a platform, and no one has a counteroffer.

It was also at this time that Luo Ye and the leaders of some other enterprises understood the far-reaching layout of Feng Xiaochen, shook their heads and sighed one by one, saying that it is no wonder that Mr. Feng can be in a high position at a young age, and there is really nothing to say about that vision, that strategy, and that or something.

Because of the previous technology accumulation, Luo Ye has obtained several sub-projects in the deep-sea drilling platform development project, and is currently in full swing for research and development. It's one thing to do pre-research before, and it's another thing to really start designing and manufacturing. China's previous offshore drilling platform has only 300 meters of operating water depth, but this time the NDRC proposed a target of 3,000 meters, according to foreign standards, equivalent to jumping directly from the third generation to the sixth generation, its difficulty can be imagined.

Don't blame the National Development and Reform Commission for pulling out seedlings and fueling them, the situation is really pressing. The issue of oil development in the South China Sea is imminent, and it is unrealistic for Western countries to expect them to provide China with the technology for deep-sea oil development. The NDRC has also negotiated with several Western countries that have technology in this area, but they either refused outright or simply demanded that more than half of their rights and interests be taken away.

In the final analysis, people just know that you don't have the skills in this area, and it's not too much to think about how to make things difficult for you. The temper of the Chinese has always been to submit to the soft rather than the hard, and when people bully the head, there is no reason not to argue. As a result, under the order of the highest level, the National Development and Reform Commission directly set up a project, no transition, one step in place, the sixth generation of technology, the goal is the 3,000-meter water depth of the South China Sea. As for investment, if you dare to open your mouth, the NDRC will dare to give it. After more than 20 years of reform and opening up, China's family foundation is thick enough, and the problems that can be solved with money are no longer problems.

Feng Xiaochen and his entourage came to Europe to seek technical cooperation in many fields, including cooperation in the development of offshore drilling platforms. This time with Fidelman, there was no such issue, who would have thought, but Steyer inadvertently revealed such a message, saying that the European Union is carrying out the Captain Cook project, the goal is to develop a drilling platform with a depth of 3,000 meters. Wang Weilong's dream is a deep-sea drilling platform, and when he heard Steyr mention it, his eyes lit up, isn't this a great opportunity?

Feng Xiaochen's reaction was a little slower than Wang Weilong's, because he was worried about more things, unlike Wang Weilong, who was bent on this matter. Hearing Wang Weilong ask Steyr to confirm this matter, Feng Xiaochen also became interested, he has a more comprehensive grasp of the country's policies, knowing that the National Development and Reform Commission and the oil department are not taboo to work with foreign countries to develop this key technology, since the Captain Cook project is an open platform where all participants can share the results of research and development, so why not get involved and take this free ride?

China does not have a strong foundation in deep-sea oil development, but the Europeans have enough experience in this area. The UK, the Netherlands and Norway have been developing North Sea oil fields for more than 30 years, and with a complete heritage of offshore rigs from the first to the fifth generation, and with the strong industrial base that Europe still has today, it should be easy to develop the sixth generation of offshore drilling platform technology. In front of Europeans, Chinese are at best junior high school students, and what a great opportunity to be able to work with doctoral students.

Of course, Feng Xiaochen will not explain these situations to Steyr, when negotiating, the less information the other party has, the more beneficial it will be to his side. China is in a hurry to acquire the technology of the sixth generation of drilling rigs, which cannot be perceived by the Europeans, otherwise they may have to ask for sky-high prices. All Feng Xiaochen has to do now is to understand the situation of the EU project in order to decide on his own negotiation strategy with the other party.

Steyr didn't think about it so much, after all, the Captain Cook project didn't have much to do with him, all he needed to think about was how to please the Chinese in front of him, so that they could give him more orders. The Chinese want to participate in the Captain Cook project, which is also a good thing for him, because the deep-sea drilling platform is a super large machine that needs countless industrial control modules. If the Chinese participate in this project and are now Chinese partners, then they will have more of their share in the project in the future.

"I have a good personal relationship with the chairman of the project committee, Mr. Matsk, and I will find a suitable opportunity to raise this matter with him and ask him to arrange a meeting with you. I think the project committee should be open to China's participation, after all, the more countries participate, the more support the project will receive. Steyr said.

Feng Xiaochen nodded and said, "Then thank you, Mr. Steyer." We will leave the UK in two days to visit other suppliers in Germany. Mr. Hotby will have our contact details, and if Mr. Steyr contacts Mr. Matsk, he can let us know in time, and we will visit Mr. Matsk at the time he wishes. ”

"The Captain Cook Project Committee is based in the Netherlands, so it should be convenient for you to come from Germany. I will contact Matsk as soon as possible, and I am sure that I will give you an answer soon. Steyr said.