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On September 30, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOC) announced that another large oil and gas discovery has been made in China’s Bohai Sea – the Kenli 10-2 oil field. As confirmed by the Ministry of Natural Resources, the proven geological reserves of crude oil at this site exceed 100 million tons. This discovery further strengthens China’s reserves of offshore oil and gas resources, and it is of great significance for ensuring stable and increased production from offshore oil fields as well as for safeguarding energy security. The Kenli 10-2 oil field is located in the southern part of the Bohai Sea, about 245 kilometers away from Tianjin. The average water depth there is around 15.7 meters. In the exploration well Kenli 10-2-4, oil-bearing strata were encountered over a depth of 27 meters, with the total drilling depth reaching 1520 meters. Tests have shown that a single well in this oil field can produce 81.55 tons of crude oil per day. Xu Changgui, General Manager of the Exploration Department of CNOOC, said that the successful discovery of the Kenli 10-2 oil field has broken the pattern of no oil fields with hundreds of millions of tons of reserves ever being found in the shallow layers of the Bohai Sea’s oil field basins. It demonstrates the broad prospects for exploring lithologic oil and gas reservoirs in the Bohai Sea, and holds significant guiding value for explorations in similar basins. Following the discovery of the 60-100 million ton oil field in Kenli at the beginning of 2020, CNOOC’s explorers drew on these successful experiences to promptly carry out evaluation work on the Kenli 10-2 structure located to the south of the Kenli 6-1 oil field. The Kenli 10-2 structure is located in the Laizhou Bay depression of the Bohai Sea. After more than 40 years of numerous exploration campaigns in this area, exploring structural reservoirs has become increasingly difficult, and the reservoirs that have been discovered are of smaller scale and lack commercial value. At the same time, according to traditional understanding, both the shallow and deep strata in the Laizhou Bay depression are rich in sedimentary muds. The oil and gas found at greater depths underground are blocked by strata of different lithologies, akin to being covered by many layers of thick quilts, preventing them from migrating and accumulating in shallower layers. As a result, exploration for oil and gas reservoirs of this type in this area has not seen any breakthroughs over the years. In the face of numerous adverse factors, based on solid fundamental research, explorers boldly innovated their exploration approaches and proposed a new model for the formation of stratigraphic reservoirs in recent formations. Guided by new approaches, explorers gradually identified the patterns of hydrocarbon accumulation and the directions for exploration. After a year of evaluation, a large lithologic oil and gas reservoir—the Kenli 10-2 Oilfield—was successfully discovered in the shallow layers of the Laizhou Bay Depression. Xu Changgui explained that around the Kenli 10-2 oil field, there are already several operating oil fields such as Kenli 10-1 and Kenli 10-4, with relatively complete development facilities. Production is expected to begin in full by 2025, contributing to an increase in output from the Bohai Sea oil fields by 40 million tons. The Bohai Sea oil field is the main front for increasing oil and gas reserves and production in China’s offshore areas. In recent years, CNOOC has been committed to advancing its \"Seven-Year Action Plan\" for increasing reserves and production. Faced with complex geological structures, it has continuously strengthened innovation in geological understanding and exploration technologies, overcoming various exploration challenges such as large-scale hydrocarbon generation in oil-type basins and undersea hills. Within just two years, it made a series of significant oil and gas discoveries in the Bohai Sea, including the huge Bozhong 19-6 field with reserves of 100 billion cubic meters, as well as the 100-million-ton Keli 6-1 and Bozhong 13-2 fields, thus maintaining a strong momentum in increasing reserves and sustaining production levels. Since 2018, the Bohai Oil Field has seen an increase in proven geological reserves of oil and gas of nearly 800 million tons. Wang Dongjin, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Chairman of CNOOC, said that the discovery of the Kenli 10-2 oil field is another significant achievement in CNOOC’s ongoing efforts to increase oil and gas exploration and development activities within China, providing a reserve foundation for increasing production at the Bohai Sea oil fields by 40 million tons. CNOOC will firmly focus on oil and gas exploration as its core activity, aiming to discover large and medium-sized oil and gas fields. It will continue to deepen its geological understanding and drive technological innovation, striving to become the key force in increasing oil and gas reserves and production in China, and contributing to a successful start for the 14th Five-Year Plan as well as to the high-quality development of the offshore oil industry.