Scott No: -
Serial number: 2013-2
Values in set: 3
Date of issue: January 18, 2013
Denomination: 550 fen
Designer: Shen Jiahong
Size of stamps: 50 * 30 mm
Perforation: 13
Sheet composition: 12
Size of sheet: 196 * 156 mm
Printing process: Photogravure
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

The special stamp set "Offshore Oil" was issued by China Post on January 18, 2013. The set consists of three stamps designed by Shen Jiahong and printed by Beijing Stamp Printing Works. Through three scenes—exploration, drilling, and production—the stamps illustrate the offshore oil operation process, featuring three pieces of equipment: the exploration vessel "Offshore Oil 720," the drilling platform "Offshore Oil 981," and the storage vessel "Offshore Oil 117." The face values are 1.20 yuan, 1.20 yuan, and 3.00 yuan respectively.

"Offshore Oil 720" is Asia's first new-generation 3D seismic exploration vessel. It is the first offshore engineering vessel designed and built in China to meet PSPC (Performance Standard for Protective Coatings) standards, and represents the mainstream technology in modern seismic exploration vessels. The vessel has an operating depth of up to 3,000 meters and can collect seismic data under sea state 5 and current conditions of up to 3 knots. It is equipped with the world's most advanced detection and preprocessing systems. Compared to previous 8-streamer vessels, the 12-streamer "Offshore Oil 720" nearly doubles its exploration range, capable of surveying 4,000 to 6,000 square kilometers annually, with an endurance of up to 75 days, effectively supporting deep-sea exploration.

"Offshore Oil 981" is China's first domestically designed and built sixth-generation 3,000-meter deep-water semi-submersible drilling platform. It represents the highest level of offshore oil drilling platform technology in the world today and is often referred to as the "aircraft carrier" of offshore engineering equipment. The platform has a designed deadweight of approximately 31,000 tons, with a deck area equivalent to that of a standard football field. Its height from the bottom of the hull to the top of the drilling derrick is about 137 meters, with a total cable length exceeding 900 kilometers and a total construction cost of nearly 6 billion yuan. The platform is capable of exploration, drilling, well completion, and workover operations, with a maximum operating water depth of 3,000 meters and a maximum drilling depth of 12,000 meters. The successful construction of this platform not only filled a gap in China's deep-water drilling equipment but also holds strategic significance in advancing China's entry into the world-class offshore engineering equipment development, design, and manufacturing sector, as well as enhancing China's deep-water operational capabilities.

"Offshore Oil 117" is China's first 300,000-ton floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel to be fully domestically designed and built, representing the largest offshore engineering construction project completed in China to date. The FPSO has a total length of 323 meters, a width of 63 meters, a storage capacity of 2 million barrels of crude oil, and a daily processing capacity of up to 190,000 barrels, with an annual processing capacity of 10 million cubic meters. The project was jointly invested by China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and ConocoPhillips China Inc., and was officially put into operation on May 28, 2009.

The three pieces of equipment were built by China State Shipbuilding Corporation, Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., and other units. CNOOC, the development entity, had previously been featured on stamps issued in 1977 and 1978.