CNOOC Ltd., China's largest offshore oil and gas producer, said Wednesday that it aims to produce 330-340 million barrels of oil equivalent in 2012, up from an estimated output of 331-332 million barrels last year.

The company currently has 16 projects under construction, of which, four projects will commence operations this year, CNOOC said in a statement posted on its website.

"More projects will come onstream in offshore China over the next few years and become an important source of CNOOC's output growth," the statement said.

Chief Executive Officer Li Fanrong said in the statement that the company will strengthen independent deep-water exploration to achieve the target of 6-10-percent compound annual growth between 2011 and 2015.

CNOOC's capital expenditure is estimated at 9.3-11 billion U.S. dollars this year. The capital will be used for deep-water exploration and unconventional energy exploration.

Exploration, development and production will account for 17 percent, 68 percent and 14 percent of the total capital expenditure, respectively, the company said.

CNOOC's shares closed 0.9 percent higher in Hong Kong on Wednesday.

Source:china.org