BEIJING - China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) Limited, the listed unit of the country's largest offshore oil producer, announced Thursday that the company has made a new oil discovery in the Bohai Sea.

According to CNOOC Ltd, the new discovery LD 21-2 is located in the inverted structure belt of LD 22-27 in south Liaodong Bay, with its south part adjacent to LD 27-2 oilfield. The average water depth is 20 meters.

The discovery well of LD 21-2-1D is drilled and completed at a depth of 2,831 meters and encountered oil pay zones with total thickness of about 170 meters, representing the thickest oil layers found in the exploration of Bohai clastic rocks in recent years.

Currently, oil production of the well tested at around 608 barrels per day.

Zhu Weilin, Executive Vice President of the CNOOC Limited and General Manager of Exploration Department, said the discovery of LD 21-2 further confirms high quality oil and gas accumulation of the inverted structure belt of LD 22-27 as well as good prospects for future exploration.

Share price of CNOOC Limited dipped 0.14 percent to close at HK$14.26 in Hong Kong on Thursday.