China National Offshore Oil Corporation announced that new production has begun at a gas field in the northern South China Sea.

The Yacheng 13-4 field is about 72 km southwest of Sanya, Hainan Province, in water depths of about 85 m. The project was designed to share the existing facilities of the nearby Yacheng 13-14 field. The development also included three new subsea production facilities. Three development wells are also planned, the company said.

Next year, peak production at the field is expected to reach 350 000 million m3 of natural gas per year.