BEIJING -- China's largest offshore oil and gas producer, China National Offshore Oil Company Limited (CNOOC Ltd), announced Thursday that its 2011 oil and gas output target is set at 355 to 365 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE).

It is higher than an estimated output for 2010 of 327 to 329 million BOE, according to a statement on the CNOOC Ltd website.

There are four new offshore China projects to come on-stream, including major projects such as Jinxian1-1 and Jinzhou 25-1 in 2011, and overseas, Eagle Ford project in the United States and Bridas Corporation in Argentina are expected to deliver production, said the statement.

The new oil and gas fields brought on-stream in 2010 and 2011, together with new projects overseas, are expected to result in the output growth this year. Meanwhile, 15 projects are under construction, also driving the output growth of the company, said CNOOC Ltd.

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Further, the company said it would focus on oil and gas exploration in core areas, while strengthening exploration in new areas and frontiers, especially in the deep water South China Sea in 2011.

The company plans to drill 96 exploration wells and acquire 19,967 kilometers of 2-Dimensional (2D) seismic data and 17,129 square kilometers of 3-Dimensional (3D) seismic data, to achieve a reserve replacement ratio of over 100 percent in 2011.

The company's total capital expenditure in 2011 is expected to reach $8.77 billion, among which capital expenditure for exploration is $1.56 billion, for development, $5.05 billion and for production, $2.02 billion, according to the statement.

CNOOC Ltd saw an output growth rate of 7 to 11 percent in the five years from 2006 to 2010 and it anticipates a year of steady growth in 2011, laying a more solid base for development in the next five years, said Yang Hua, the Vice Chairman and CEO of the CNOOC Ltd.

Incorporated in Hong Kong, CNOOC Ltd is the listed subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corporation.