Chinese offshore operator CNOOC Ltd’s significant investments in exploration in recent years are paying off as offshore fields last year provided 60% of the country’s total oil and gas production increase.

Recent offshore exploration has turned up massive gas discoveries in the Qiongdongnan and Yinggehai basins of the South China Sea, where CNOOC Ltd is set to build a gas production hub.

In the Pearl River Mouth basin, the company is looking to redevelop mature fields and bring marginal finds together in “cluster” developments.