China: Guangdong's New Five-Year Resolution

What happened: Guangdong enters a new Five-Year Plan with a coordinated offshore energy strategy that links all of its assets, from oil and gas to offshore wind.

Why it matters: Rather than pursuing isolated projects, the province aims to operationalize Beijing’s priorities on supply security, energy transition and the marine economy at scale, positioning itself as a test case for an integrated offshore energy system.

What happens next: If implemented as planned, Guangdong’s integrated approach could attract new investment and some foreign participation over the next five years.

Guangdong is entering the 15th Five-Year Plan period with a highly ambitious agenda: serving as a testing ground for China’s goal of building a new energy system by 2030.

Already a major offshore oil and gas producer, a refining and chemicals hub, and a leading producer for offshore wind, the province is now seeking to align these assets with Beijing’s priorities on supply security, energy transition and development of the marine economy. At the center of this push is a strategy to link domestic oil and gas production enabled by advanced ultra-deep drilling technology with large-scale offshore wind, green hydrogen pilots and the development of greener industrial parks along the coast.

Over the next five years, Guangdong plans to raise offshore oil and gas production to more than 20mn tons of oil equivalent through new deepwater developments, while also promoting an “Oil & Gas+” framework outlined in a recently released policy research. The model involves developing deep-processing industrial parks in Huizhou and Maoming to create high-value chains in advanced chemical and medical materials, with the stated goal of developing a large-scale green petrochemical industrial cluster.

Guangdong is also planning up to 50 GW of additional offshore wind development. The province is testing models that integrate offshore wind generation with existing oil and gas platforms, using renewable power to offset operational energy demand. Last year’s Huizhou 19-6 discovery, an ultra-deep reservoir within an existing field that CNOOC was able to book at more than 100mn tons, underscores how technological progress is expanding China’s offshore resource base.

Together, these initiatives reflect Guangdong’s efforts to operationalize central government policy goals at scale, positioning the province as a potential trailblazer for a new offshore energy model. The core of the ambition lies less in any single project than in the attempt to integrate these assets into a coherent offshore energy system.

Essentially, Guangdong is taking the central government's energy and industrial policies to its heart.

If Guangdong’s integrated offshore strategy advances as planned, it could create opportunities for foreign investment, particularly for firms already active in China’s energy and chemical sectors. Potential avenues include deeper cooperation with existing partners on offshore oil and gas projects, both upstream and downstream, where foreign firms can contribute financing, technical expertise and project management without taking operatorship.

More tentatively, the integrated model could also offer indirect exposure to offshore renewables. While China’s offshore wind sector remains largely closed to foreign developers, joint projects that link wind power with oil and gas operations, hydrogen production, or overseas ventures could provide a pathway for collaboration with international oil companies that are otherwise excluded from standalone renewable projects.

The scale of this ambition naturally raises questions around power pricing, offshore grid capacity and coordination between energy producers and transmission operators. Technological capability and political resolve appear strong.