Cnooc, ConocoPhillips Start Operating Oil Platform in Bohai Bay

By Wang Ying

Sept. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Cnooc Ltd., China's biggest offshore oil producer, and ConocoPhillips have started operating a platform in the Peng Lai 19-3 oil field in Bohai Bay off the northern Chinese coast.

Platform B of phase II at PL 19-3 began operations ahead of schedule, the Beijing-based oil producer said in a statement on its Web site today. Phase II facilities at the field can process 190,000 barrels of oil a day, Cnooc said.

The Chinese oil producer holds a 51 percent interest in the PL 19-3 field while ConocoPhillips' China unit, the operator, has the remaining 49 percent share.

To contact the reporter on this story: Wang Ying in Beijing at wang30@bloomberg.net;