Production of 4,000 barrels a day has begun at an oil field under the management of the China National Offshore Oil Company Limited (CNOOC Ltd.) in East China's Bohai Bay, the company announced Friday.

Peak production was expected to reach an average 25,000 barrels per day by 2011, said a statement on the company's website.

Bozhong (BZ) 28-2S, in the southern Bohai Bay with a depth of 21 meters, is the largest field of the five CNOOC-developed oil projects expected to come on stream this year offshore China.

CNOOC Ltd. discovered BZ28-2S in 2006 and has complete rights over the oil field and its products. The main development facilities include one central platform, 49 wells and one floating production storage and offloading (FPSO).

Incorporated in Hong Kong, CNOOC Ltd. is a listed subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corporation, China's largest offshore oil producer.

(Xinhua News Agency March 20, 2009)