Production of grain and key agricultural products has been highly valued in China since early this year, which will be key to pushing forward all-round rural vitalization.
As a major oil, natural and fertilizer supplier, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has been in full swing in providing agricultural supplies such as diesel and fertilizer.
Ensuring fertilizer production
Fertilization is the foundation of good harvests. The adequate supply, timely delivery, and high quality of fertilizer directly impact farmers’ livelihoods. CNOOC has consistently emphasized the importance of prudent fertilizer management to secure food safety.
CNOOC’s subsidiary in South China’s Hainan Province optimized the operational management of production facilities, ensuring best performance of the facilities through measures such as technological upgrading, hazard identification, and the application of intelligent systems.
In mid-February, Hegang of Northeast China’s province of Heilongjiang welcomed cold weather with temperatures dropping to minus 22 degrees Celsius.
CNOOC leveraged its industrial chain advantages to ensure raw material supply for fertilizer production and to stabilize the price.
Its subsidiary in the region enhanced cooperation with transportation companies, flexibly allocating transporting capacities to ensure timely coal transportation and realizing sufficient coal storage and compliant coal usage.
The company also intensified supervision of quality coal loading, guaranteeing raw material supply for urea production.
In Jingmen, Central China’s Hubei Province, CNOOC orderly developed phosphorite based on its self-operated Wangji Phosphorite Mine, which ensured production of the phosphate fertilizer.
Sulfur is also a crucial raw material for phosphate fertilizer production. CNOOC strengthened allocation of agricultural resources, and enhanced the overall production procedures to guarantee stable facility operation, achieving a daily sulfur output of approximately 200 metric tons.
In Jinzhong, North China’s Shanxi Province, CNOOC’s precious metal development company’s platinum mesh production workshop is brightly lit, with carefully crafted platinum wire mesh being packaged and dispatched to various parts of the country.
The platinum gauze is an important catalyst for production of nitric acid, a raw material of fertilizer. The peak period for platinum gauze replacement falls in February. As early as January, CNOOC started to advance scientific order management, and accelerate product supply, intending to guarantee fertilizer production.
Guaranteeing transport of agricultural materials
As it’s time for spring farming, CNOOC’s subsidiaries in the provinces of Hainan, Hubei, Heilongjiang, and Hebei allocated various kinds of vehicles to transport fertilizers.
Trucks are bustling in CNOOC’s subsidiary in Heilongjiang, carrying urea to other regions. According to the company, its daily shipment of urea exceeds 2,400 tons.
CNOOC’s subsidiary in Dongfang, South China’s Hainan Province welcomed a rush hour of fertilizer transport. The company made detailed plans and ensured green passage for spring farming.
As of March, the company had allocated 36 voyages and shipped 96,600 tons of fertilizer. It’s worth noting that the company completed shipment of 367 heavy containers of fertilizers in February.
CNOOC’s Sino-Arab Chemical Fertilizers Co., Ltd optimized inventory layout and made full use of the external storage, realizing online appointments for goods before loading and ensuring orderly operation of the transport vehicles. By flexibly adjusting the loading and downloading, and innovating loading into irregular-shaped packages, the company improved transport efficiency and service, contributing to preparation for spring farming.
Adopting high-tech to increase production
High-tech plays a crucial role in improving agricultural production.
CNOOC has cooperated with government departments and institutes to launch laboratories, study nutritious formulas, and develop new fertilizers.
Focusing on technological innovation, CNOOC strives to improve quality and effectiveness of fertilizers while exploring innovative fertilization methods to support efficient fertilization and green development of agriculture.
In 2023, CNOOC and the Hegang Municipal Government in Heilongjiang jointly built a Fudao high-yield soybean demonstration field in Luobei County. The field realized an increase of 1,900 kilograms of soybeans in the 57-mu field while reducing fertilizer use by 10 percent.
In Zhanggezhuang Village of Qinhuangdao, North China’s Hebei Province, technicians of Sino-Arab Chemical Fertilizers Co., Ltd collected data of the crop and the soil, in accordance with which they will offer scientific suggestions on fertilizer usage.
China BlueChemical Ltd. actively established a nationwide e-commerce direct sales and service network, providing benefits to local farmers.
Liu Lian, a farmer from Ledong County in Hainan said that farmers had to purchase fertilizers through a middleman at high prices even though the supply was not stable. Thanks to the e-commerce platform, farmers are now able to buy high-quality fertilizers at a low price.
In January of this year, the company realized a transaction volume of approximately 8,475 tons of fertilizer through the e-commerce platform. Taking advantage of the digital commerce, e-commerce direct sales has become a new force for CNOOC to support sustainable agricultural development.
Delivering diesel to power farming machinery
Agricultural diesel is an essential resource for spring farming production. CNOOC’s subsidiary for refining leveraged its production-supply-sales chain to ensure timely and high-quality supply of fuel for spring farming. As of March, the company sold approximately 35,000 tons of diesel daily.
Other subsidiaries of CNOOC also improved their fuel supply capacity by monitoring changes of the raw material properties, controlling operating parameters, increasing proportion of catalytic diesel processing, and strengthening quality control of key diesel indicators, as well as launching online-offline inspection of the diesel production facilities.
CNOOC also provided a one-stop service to promptly meet diesel needs of farmers while launching supporting services to rural areas.
For example, in Langtian Town, Shaoguan of South China’s Guangdong Province, CNOOC opened a green passage for agricultural machinery, and provided farmers with free tea and labor protection gloves.
