China’s upstream watchdog, the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), has verified Australian independent Roc Oil’s recent hydrocarbon discovery in the South China Sea’s Pearl River Mouth Basin.

Roc’s owner, Shanghai-listed Hainan Mining, said the independent received confirmation from the Chinese government that the Huizhou 12-7 oilfield in Block 03-33 holds incremental proven oil reserves of 7.35 million barrels.

Hainan added that Roc and partner CNOOC Ltd will now carry out an environment impact assessment and work on an overall field development plan to help assess the field’s economics before moving towards a final investment decision.