China's largest listed offshore oil and gas producer CNOOC Ltd on Tuesday said it would boost production by up to 18 percent this year, driven by new output from wells in Nigeria and Indonesia.
The firm is aiming for production of 225 million-231 million barrels of oil equivalent this year, up from 194 million-196 million in 2008, it said in a statement.
CNOOC said it also planned to increase capital expenditure by 19 percent to 6.76 billion US dollars, despite lower oil prices. The aggressive moves comes as many international players are stalling projects.
"We are confident in a continuing production and reserves growth in 2009. Next year, our exploration and development activities will be further strengthened to facilitate our sustainable development in the future," company chairman Fu Chengyu said in the statement.
The 10 new projects coming on-stream this year will include Nigeria's Akpo field, in which CNOOC owns a 45 percent stake, and Indonesia's Tangguh liquefied natural gas project, in which CNOOC has a 13.90 percent stake.
Of the firm's total capital spending, 4.38 billion dollars will go on developing oil and gas fields, 1.11 billion be on exploration and another 1.12 billion on production, the statement added.
