China National Offshore Oil Company Limited (CNOOC Ltd.) announced Friday it has started drilling in two new oil and gas formations discovered in East China's Bohai Bay.

Both are independent exploration discoveries of CNOOC Ltd, the company said in a statement.

Bozhong (BZ) 2-1, one of the two discoveries, is at the west of Bozhong Sag. At the point of the discovery well, a 50.9-meter layer of oil was found. The well drilled to a depth of 3,910 meters, with water depth at about 26 meters

The well was tested to have an output of an average 1,270 barrels of oil and 393,000 cubic feet of natural gas per day.

The other new discovery was dubbed as Qinhuangdao (QHD) 29-2, found at the southeast of Qinnan Sag. A 34.7-meter oil layer and a 47.9-meter natural gas layer were discovered at the new field, with drill down to a depth of 3,991 meters, water depth at approximately 27 meters.

The QHD 29-2 field is expected to produce 3,930 barrels of oil and 15.2 million cubic feet of natural gas per day, the company said.

Incorporated in Hong Kong, CNOOC Ltd. is a listed subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corporation, China's largest offshore oil producer.

(Xinhua News Agency March 27, 2009)