China's CNOOC Ltd. has discovered an oilfield with estimated reserves of 100 million tonnes (MMtonne) of light crude in the Bohai Sea, which stretches along China's northern coastline, the company said on May 1.

The estimated size of the Bozhong 26-6 field is an 'oil in place' metric, referring to the total volume in a reservoir rather than the recoverable portion of that, the company told Reuters.

The discovery well was drilled to a depth of 4,480 meters (14,698 ft), and encountered 321.3 meters of oil pay zones, meaning they have the potential to be extracted economically.

The well was tested to produce an average of around 2,040 bbl of crude and 11.25 million cubic feet of natural gas per day, the company stated.

The southern Bohai Sea has an average water depth of 22 meters, the company added.

State-owned CNOOC is China's largest offshore oil and gas producer. It has targeted a record 650 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) to 660 MMboe for this year.