The field, called QHD 32-6, is 130km east of Tianjin and pumps 29,000 barrels a day. ChevronTexaco and UK's BP each own 24.5 per cent of the field, while China's state-controlled CNOCC owns the rest.

In other news from China, Royal Dutch/Shell is leading a group of foreign investors that includes ExxonMobil Corp, in talks to help China build a 4,000km, $US14 billion natural gas-pipeline across the vast nation of 1.3 billion people. The pipeline would take gas from the north-western Xinjiang province to Shanghai on the east coast.