The China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has announced the discovery of a large field in the Bohai Sea (north-eastern China) with estimated crude oil and natural gas reserves exceeding 130 Mtoe. The Bozhong 26-6 oilfield is located in the southern Bohai Sea, about 170 km off of China's Tianjin Municipality, at an average water depth of around 22 metres. It could produce more than 20 Mt of crude oil and 9 bcm of natural gas.
A discovery well (BZ26-6-2) was drilled by CNOOC and completed at a depth of 4,480 metres, which encountered a total of 321.3 metres of oil pay zones. The well was tested to produce an average of approximately 2,040 bbl/d of crude oil and 11.45 mcf/d (118 mcm/year) of natural gas.
At the end of 2021, China had proved crude oil reserves reaching 25,963 mbl and proved natural gas reserves reaching 2,922 bcm. The country produced 208 Mt of crude oil and 207 bcm of gas in 2021.