China’s first “smart factory” for producing offshore oil and gas equipment became fully operational in Tianjin, located in the northern region of the country.

Spanning roughly 575,000 square meters along the Bohai Sea coast, this advanced facility—built by China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (COOEC), a subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corporation—focuses on manufacturing high-tech offshore oil and gas platforms and specialized products, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) modules.

The facility comprises four automated production workshops, eight support centers, 16 assembly stations, and key infrastructure like docks for transporting large equipment. Over 600 smart production machines operate within the base. A specialized manufacturing management platform enables streamlined operations, such as material handling, pipe shaping, cutting, and hydraulic bending, all executed with a single command at the Tianjin site.

Wang Lei, a senior official at COOEC’s Tianjin branch, explained that manufacturing offshore oil and gas equipment traditionally required complex processes and customized specifications. To streamline this, COOEC developed an intelligent management system capable of automating production in intricate conditions. “Thanks to this system, most manufacturing tasks are handled by machines, with only a few workers needed for fine adjustments,” said Wang.

The construction of the facility took place in two stages. The initial phase, completed in June 2022, produced 35 offshore platforms for markets like China and Canada, totaling over 87,000 tonnes. The second phase introduced additional assembly stations, an advanced pipe production line, and increased dock capacity. According to Wang, the intelligent pipe line has boosted efficiency by 20 percent compared to the first phase, and overall production capacity at the factory has doubled due to digital precision management.

In 2023, China’s offshore crude oil production surpassed 62 million tonnes, an increase of 3.4 million tonnes from the previous year, accounting for approximately 70 percent of the country’s total growth in crude output.