China’s first domestically designed and built integrated offshore fracturing vessel, Offshore Oil 696, was officially delivered in Zhoushan on March 10, marking a breakthrough in the China’s offshore oil and gas stimulation technology and equipment.
The vessel is powered by a fracturing pump drive motor developed by CRRC Yongji Electric Co., Ltd., providing core power support for offshore fracturing operations and enhancing China’s deep-sea oil and gas development capabilities.
As the key power source of the fracturing system, the motor drives high-pressure pumps to inject fracturing fluid into deep, low-permeability reservoirs, creating fractures that significantly improve extraction efficiency. This enables previously hard-to-develop offshore resources to be produced more effectively.
Utilizing its core rail transit electrical technologies, CRRC Yongji Electric developed the motor with a rated power of 3,750 kW. The system is engineered to operate reliably in harsh marine environments, featuring enhanced cooling design to manage temperature, corrosion-resistant materials to withstand high humidity and salt exposure, and reinforced structural stability for offshore conditions. Multiple safety protections, including overload, short-circuit, and overheating safeguards, are also integrated.
The Offshore Oil 696 vessel measures 99.8 meters in length and 22 meters in width, with a deck area equivalent to approximately 3.5 basketball courts, making it the largest of its kind globally. It is capable of high-displacement, high-power continuous fracturing operations, pumping up to 12 cubic meters of fluid per minute—improving operational efficiency by nearly 40%.
The deployment of the vessel is expected to significantly advance the development of China’s offshore low-permeability oil and gas resources.
