The China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) will invest 100 billion yuan (12.5 billion U.S. dollars) in gas and oil exploration in the next five years, the company source said Tuesday.

By 2010, more than 50 new gas and oil fields of CNOOC Limited will be completed and put into production, said Tan Dongling, a development and planning manager of the company.

The new fields, 24 of which are under construction and 13 under development assessment, are mainly located in East China's Bohai Sea, the Pearl River estuary and the Beibu Gulf in the South China Sea, said Tan.

By 2010, CNOOC Limited will have a production capacity of 50 million tons of oil equivalent, including 38 million tons of crude oil and 12.6 billion cubic meters of gas, according to Tan.

Source: Xinhua