Apr. 26, 2012 (China Knowledge) - CNOOC Ltd<0883>, the largest offshore oil company in China, produced a total of 79.8 million barrels of oil equivalent or BOE in the first quarter of this year, reflecting a year-on-year decline of 6.3% from 85.2 million BOE.

Un-audited oil and gas revenue for the quarter increased 3.7% from a year earlier to RMB 48.84 billion. Average price surged 19.4% year on year to US$120.79 per barrel in oil sales and soared 19.8% from a year earlier to US$5.88 per thousand cubic feet in gas sales.

In the three months ended Mar. 31, 2012, the company's capital expenditure on exploration, development and production totaled around RMB 9.64 billion, up 58.2% year on year.

CNOOC CEO Yang Hua said the company made five new discoveries and five successful appraisal wells offshore China in the first quarter of this year, adding that it is confident to meet the target of producing between 330 million and 340 million BOE in 2012, compared with 331.8 million BOE the firm fielded in 2011.

The Chinese oil giant also targets a compound annual output growth of 6% to 10% in the five years through 2015, sources reported.