A newly-discovered oilfield in Bohai Bay is China's largest discovery of oil in over 40 years, says the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). The Jidong Nanbao Oilfield has a reserve of one billion tons, or about 7.35 billion barrels.

Zhai Guangming, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a well-known expert in petroleum exploration, said Bohai Bay may have other bigger oilfields, but they will be more difficult to find.

"As far as I know, CNPC had confirmed a large-sized oilfield in the Bohai Bay area last year," Zhai said, adding that the announcement sends a signal to the world -- that China has more unexploited oilfields, squashing some media reports saying China's growing demand for oil will threaten international oil security.

An academic and oil geologist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences Jia Chengzao, also projected that new discoveries will be made in the area around the Bohai Sea following the Jidong Nanbao Oilfield, which will lead to a rapid growth of the corporation's oil production in the future.

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