The country's energy administration expected that China’s total annual offshore output will reach 20 bcm by 2015. Of them, 15 bcm will be from the South China Sea.
Total national production is expected to be 176 bcm by 2015, while consumption is forecast to reach 230 bcm, according to the the National Energy Administration (NEA).
The NEA said: “This will bring new challenges to the country‘s energy security, and it must do its utmost to boost effective domestic supplies while at the same time optimizing the natural gas consumption mix," according to the Global Times, a daily Chinese tabloid.
CNOOC, China’s biggest offshore oil producer, revealed in November that it had found a “big” gas field in the South China Sea's Yinggehai basin. The region is believed to be rich in oil and gas reserves.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com