China National Offshore Oil Company Limited (CNOOC) said Thursday its third-quarter oil and gas output rose 48.8 percent year on year to 88.7 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE).

The company attributed the production growth to the ramping up of production from projects that came on stream since 2009, the better than expected performance of existing fields, the contributions from newly acquired projects, and lower than expected losses from typhoons, according to a statement posted on the company's website.

CNOOC said its total net production of 2010 is expected to exceed its annual production target and reach 319 million to 329 million BOE.

The company achieved a record of 149 million BOE in the first half with its net profit surging 109.6 percent to 25.99 billion yuan.

Due to increased oil and gas production and higher oil prices, the total unaudited revenue of CNOOC for the third quarter hit 38.91 billion yuan (5.81 billion U.S. dollars), up 63.8 percent from a year ago.

The average selling price of its oil increased 9.3 percent from a year earlier to 74.15 U.S. dollars per barrel during the third quarter, while the price of natural gas was 3.96 U.S. dollars per thousand cubic feet, almost unchanged from the previous year.

The company's third-quarter capital expenditure fell 27.2 percent to 8.19 billion yuan, the statement said.