China Says Worst Sea Ice in 40 Years Starts to Recede

Jan. 25 (Bloomberg) — China’s worst sea ice in 40 years showed signs of receding after subzero temperatures and high winds froze parts of Bohai Sea, where Cnooc Ltd. drills for oil and natural gas, for more than three weeks.

The ice cover in Bohai Sea in northern China has decreased in size, with 39 percent of the area frozen as of yesterday, the State Oceanic Administration said. Cnooc’s parent, the nation’s biggest offshore explorer, said Jan. 22 it resumed shipments from Jinzhou 9-3 well after stalling deliveries for four days.

China faced its coldest winter in at least 50 years as heavy snowfalls disrupted overland transportation while fog and strong gales shut seaports. Tianjin port in Bohai Bay has been unaffected by the sea ice, which first appeared at the beginning of January, said Yu Rumin, chairman of Tianjin Port (Group) Co.

“There’s no impact on vessels moving containers or commodities because the ice is less than 10 centimeters (3.9 inches) thick,” Yu said by telephone today. “Such thickness only affects fishing vessels in the area.”

Operations at Qinhuangdao, China’s largest coal port, have been unaffected by the ice, David Fang, a director at the China Coal Transport and Distribution Association, said today. The port, north of Tianjin, shipped out 700,000 metric tons of coal on Jan. 22, back to volumes seen before the terminal was closed by heavy fog and high winds twice last week, Fang said.

China Merchants Holdings (International) Co. is using icebreakers to help pave the way for ships carrying cargoes to and from Tianjin, spokeswoman Laura Huang said. China Merchants, the investor in ports moving about a third of the nation’s containers, sees no impact on its business from the weather.

“Unlike Qinhuangdao, Tianjin has not had that much ice,” Huang said. “We are using icebreakers to make sure our clients’ shipments arrive on time.”

Impact on Oilfields

The ice hasn’t had much impact on Cnooc’s overall operations in Bohai Sea, the company said today. Fields in Bohai Bay accounted for 52 percent of the company’s oil output in 2008 and 12 percent of its gas production, according to Cnooc’s annual report.

The freeze halted production at six out of eight oil rigs at China Petroleum & Chemical Corp.’s Shengli field, Hong Kong- based Wen Wei Po newspaper reported yesterday. Huang Wensheng, a spokesman for Sinopec, as the company is known, couldn’t be immediately reached on his office and mobile phones for comment.

Ice currently covers 61 percent of Bohai Bay, the oceanic administration said today. Fifty percent of Liaodong Bay and 57 percent of Laizhou Bay remain frozen, it said.

Northern China has been mostly sunny in recent days while Heilongjiang and Jilin in the northeast will receive snow today, the China Meteorological Administration said. Temperatures in certain parts of northeast China will fall by 10 to 14 degrees Celsius, the weather agency said.