China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) said on Thursday that its daily output of oil and gas increased by 5.1 percent in the first quarter over the same period of 2006 to reach 473,280 barrels of oil equivalent.

CNOOC, China's leading offshore oil and gas producer, said its pre-tax revenue in the same period hit 14.85 billion yuan (1.9 billion U.S. dollars).

It produced 378,734 barrels of crude oil per day.

Natural gas -- which soared 41 percent year on year to 550 million cubic feet a day -- drove the first quarter increase in output.

CNOOC said the Northwest Continental Shelf Project in Australia and the South East Sumata (SES) Gas Project in Indonesia had boosted the company's natural gas performance.

Its overseas output of crude oil grew 32.4 percent to hit 25,318 barrels a day, with natural gas up 82.4 percent to 177 million cubic feet per day.

CNOOC announced the discovery of two new oil fields off the Chinese coast in the first quarter.

Source: Xinhua