China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC; ticker: CEO) announced yesterday a new “mid-to-large sized” natural gas discovery.

The find, Lingshui 25-1, is located in the northeast of Ledong Sag in the Qiongdongnan Basin of the South Chinese Sea. The discovery well Lingshui 25-1-1 was drilled and completed at a depth of about 4,000 meters (13,123 feet) and encountered the oil and gas pay zone with a total thickness of about 73 meters (240 feet).

The company reported the well tested at about 35.6 MMcf/d and 395 BOPD.

Adding to a growing inventory

CNOOC’s announcement about Lingshui 25-1 is the company’s second discovery in as many months. On November 19, CEO reported that it had made a mid-size discovery, Lufeng 14-4, in the Eastern South China Sea. The discovery well Lufeng 14-4-1 tested around 1,320 BOPD.

These two discoveries come on the back of CNOOC starting production at its Liuhua 34-2 gas field, also in the Eastern South China Sea. The Liuhua 34-2 is one of three gas fields in the larger Liwan Gas Project, which the company expects to produce 180 Bcf per annum.

China’s oil and gas sector continues to ramp up as the country aims to reduce its reliance on coal, whose emissions have released massive amounts of pollution into the air of China’s cities.china-gas

Chinais projected to be the world’s largest hydrocarbon importer in 2014 and its natural gas demand is forecasted to more than triple to 17.5 Tcf by the year 2040. Its LNG import volume is expected to increase five-fold in the same time frame, but more than half of its needs will be met domestically through oil and gas operations like those being operated by CNOOC.