Chinese state-owned oil and gas CNOOC has announced a significant discovery at the Kaiping South oilfield in the South China Sea, as the country’s first deep-water and deep-play oilfield with proved in-place volume exceeding 100mt of oil equivalent. 

Situated in the eastern South China Sea, the Kaiping South oilfield has an average water depth of around 500m.  

CNOOC has invested heavily in developing China's offshore oil and gas reserves as part of a broader push to offset declining output from aging onshore fields.

The company lifted its 2024 production target by about 8% to a record 700 million to 720 million barrels of oil equivalent. Domestic production, much of this offshore reserve in eastern China's Bohai Sea and the South China Sea.