The central government has approved China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC)'s 200-billion-yuan (US$29.19 billion) program to expand oil and gas exploration in the coming 10-20 years.

The massive investment plan was approved by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council and will kick off in 2009, China Business News reported on Dec 16.

CNOOC, the country's third-largest oil producer, said in its statement last month that it would invest 200 billion yuan on oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea in the next 10 or 20 years and build up a production capacity with annual output of 50 million tons, equivalent to that of China's biggest oil field, the Daqing Oil Field.

The Shanghai-based newspaper said the 200 billion yuan would focus on the construction of exploration infrastructure and development capacity for oil and gas fields deep in the sea.

(China Daily December 16, 2008)