China National Offshore Oil Company Limited (CNOOC Ltd.) announced Tuesday that a new oilfield in east China's Bohai Bay has started commercial production.

The Luda (LD) 5-2 is producing at a volume of more than 2,200 barrels of oil per day from four wells, said CNOOC Ltd.

LD 5-2, with a water depth of about 30 meters, is located in the Liaodong Bay of Bohai Bay. It is adjacent to the producing field Suizhong 36-1.

The peak gross production capacity is 9,600 barrels of oil per day with 22 producing wells on line.

To date, LD fields, consisting of three fields, LD 4-2, LD10-1, LD5-2, have come on stream successfully. Owning to the joint development and sharing with Suizhong 36-1 of its producing facilities, the fields are expected to deliver better economic returns.

Liu Jian, executive vice president of the company, said that CNOOC limited discovered and developed the three LD fields independently and it takes only three years to bring them on line.

CNOOC Ltd. holds 100 percent interest of the field and acts as the operator.

Incorporated in Hong Kong, CNOOC Ltd is a 70.64 percent held subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), China's largest offshore oil corporation.

CNOOC Ltd. is the sole vehicle through which CNOOC carries out oil and gas exploration, development, production and selling activities offshore China and internationally.

(Xinhua News Agency November 23, 2005)