BEIJING: China's national oil giant China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) made an oilfield discovery with a volume of 100 million tons in the eastern South China Sea, the company announced on Friday.

The new reserve was found in the Kaiping South Oilfield, 300 kilometers off the coast of Guangdong province in the south of the country.

Through continued exploration, the proved in-place volume of Kaiping South Oilfield reached 102 million tons of oil equivalent.

The exploratory well has been tested to produce an average of approximately 7,680 barrels of crude oil and 0.52 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.

"Kaiping South Oilfield is China's first deep-water and deep-play oilfield with proven in-place volume over a hundred million tons," Xu Changgui, deputy chief exploration officer of CNOOC, said.

"The Company remains committed to oil and gas resources exploration and development in the South China Sea, thereby continuously enhancing its energy supply capacity," Zhou Xinhuai, CEO and president of the company, said.

CNOOC aims to produce 700 to 720 million barrels of oil equivalent in 2024, with 69 percent coming from China and the remainder from overseas operations.