BEIJING — The China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) announced on Feb 22 that it has discovered a field in the Bohai Sea with estimated reserves of crude oil and natural gas totaling 100 million metric tons of oil equivalent.

The field, located at an average depth of 23.2 meters, is known as Bozhong 13-2. It is situated in the middle of the Bohai Sea, 140 km away from North China's Tianjin municipality, said the CNOOC.

Drilled to a depth of 5,223 meters so far, the field's exploratory well has encountered oil and gas pay zones with a thickness of 346 meters.

The average daily oil and gas output at the well is 300 tons and 150,000 cubic meters, respectively, according to the company's assessment.

The CNOOC said the discovery of the Bozhong 13-2 field is a major breakthrough in exploration work in the Bohai Sea area and greatly expands the capacity for buried hill exploration.