China's oil, gas exploration investment hits record high in 2019

China's investment in oil and gas exploration set a record high of 82.13 billion yuan (about 11.76 billion U.S. dollars) in 2019, up 29 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources.

National exploitation of oil and gas saw a total investment of 252.71 billion yuan last year, rising 24.4 percent from the previous year, the ministry said in a report on its website.

During the period, newly added proven oil reserves saw year-on-year growth of 17.2 percent to reach 1.12 billion tonnes, while new proven natural gas reserves declined 2.7 percent year on year to 809.1 billion cubic meters.

Meanwhile, China's petroleum output in 2019 rallied by 1.1 percent year on year to 191 million tonnes, recovering from a 1.2-percent decline in 2018, the ministry said.

The country's natural gas industry also reported faster expansion, with the sector's production hitting 150.9 billion cubic meters, up 6.6 percent from a year ago.

By the end of last year, the country's accumulated oil production stood at 7.13 billion tonnes while the output of natural gas reached 2.23 trillion cubic meters, the report said.