China's Ministry of Land and Resources has certified the discovery of 445 million tons of proven oil reserves in the newly discovered Jidong Nanpu oil fieldin Bohai Bay, bringing the total possible oil and gas reserves to 1.18 billion tons of oil equivalent.
The figure, calculated by 15 experts from China National Offshore Oil Corp., Sinopec and the ministry, was higher than the previous estimate of 405 million tons of oil equivalent, made by China's largest oil Producer, China National Petroleum Corporation(CNPC).
"These certified proven oil reserves amount to almost half of China's newly discovered oil reserves in recent years and will contribute to ensuring China's energy supply," a ministry statement said.
The discovery of the oil field in east China's Bohai Bay was announced by CNPC in May and is said to be the biggest oil discovery in China in the last 30 years.
The news has raised the market value of CNPC's Hong Kong listedsubsidiary PetroChina by 220 billion Hong Kong dollars.