By an OGJ Online Correspondent
BEIJING, Aug. 3 -- China plans to spend 50 billion yuan ($6 billion) over the next 5 years to boost production in the Bohai Sea.
China National Offshore Oil Corp., China's sole offshore oil operator, will drill 1,100 production wells, build 50 platforms, and build other offsite facilities to boost production to 20 million tonnes/year by 2005 from the current 3.6 million tonnes/year.
Production from the Bohai Sea is projected to peak at 35 million tonnes by 2010.
China started to explore Bohai Sea in 1965. As of June 2001, CNOOC and its foreign partners discovered 3 billion tonnes of crude oil reserves at Bohai.
Development projects, including Peng Lai 19-3 and Qinhuangdao 32-6, have prompted at least 17 foreign companies to join CNOOC in the Bohai oil rush. They include BP PLC, Royal/Dutch Shell Group, and Phillips Petroleum Co.
CNOOC hopes to double its offshore oil crude production to 40 million tonnes/year by 2005.