This Day, That Year

Item from May 31, 1992, in China Daily: After opening to foreign oil companies a decade ago, petroleum development in the Bohai Sea region is set to go into full swing.

The Bohai Oil Corp is speeding up construction of three oilfields, which will produce 3 million metric tons of oil and 500 million cubic meters of natural gas within a few years. The Bohai Sea is the largest offshore oil and gas production base in China, with annual oil output reaching 30 million metric tons since 2010, according to the Ministry of Land and Resources.

The first foreign cooperative oilfield in the area was put into operation in 1985.

Now there are about 50 oilfields in operation, according to China National Offshore Oil Corp, the country’s biggest offshore oil producer.

However, the energy boom has hit the environment hard, with a series of oil spills from offshore platforms in the past few years.

In 2011, two oil spills at the Penglai 19-3 field polluted more than 6,200 square kilometers of water, according to ConocoPhillips China, the field’s operator.

Economic losses caused by marine accidents surged from 300 million yuan ($44 million) on average annually in the 1980s to more than 17 billion yuan between 2005 and 2010, according to the State Oceanic Administration.

To better protect the marine environment in the area, authorities have strengthened monitoring.