South China Sea oil fields produced over 50 mm tons in 8 years
Oil fields in the eastern section of the South China Sea have produced over 50 mm tons of crude oil since the
region's first field entered production in Sept. 1990, according to China Offshore Oil Nan Hai (South China Sea) East
Corporation (CONHE).
The eastern waters of the South China Sea opened to foreign co-operation in 1983, with exploratory efforts to date
yielding 26 oil fields and major oil-bearing structures.
The 9 fields in production have a total daily output of 38,000 tons. The fields produced slightly over 12.97 mm tons
of oil in 1997, with the eastern section of the South China Sea emerging as the nation's major offshore crude oil
producer.
The fields had generated a combined industrial output value of 45.14 bn yuan and paid taxes totalling 5.61 bn yuan by
the end of 1997.
CONHE is a subsidiary of the China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), the major domestic oil company operating in
the South China Sea. CONHE is currently the fourth largest oil producer in China.
