The first deepwater drilling rig developed in China was put into service in the South China Sea on Wednesday, the country's largest offshore oil producer said.
The sixth-generation semi-submersible CNOOC 981 was to begin operations in a sea area 320 kilometers southeast of Hong Kong at a water depth of 1,500 meters, China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) said in a press release.
It will be the first independent deep-water oil drilling by a Chinese company, marking "a substantial step" made by the country's deep-sea oil industry, CNOOC said.