CNOOC Limited said on Thursday that the company has achieved a total net production of 137.7 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) for the first quarter of 2021, representing an increase of 4.7 percent year-over-year.

It was mainly attributable to production growth from the commencement of new projects, including the Liuhua 16-2/20-2 and Lvda 16-3/21-2, the company said during its press release of the 2021 first quarter key operational statistics on Thursday.

For the new projects planned for this year, the Caofeidian 6-4 oilfield has commenced production, and other projects progressed as scheduled, it said.

During the first three months, the company has made two new discoveries and drilled 18 successful appraisal wells. The Kenli 10-2 and Wenchang 9-7 oil and gas bearing structures were successfully appraised in offshore China too. Kenli 10-2 is expected to be a mid-to-large-sized oilfield that indicates broad exploration prospects for shallow lithology oil and gas reservoirs in Bohai, while Wenchang 9-7 is expected to be a mid-sized oilfield.

"In the first quarter of 2021, the company made efficient progress in increasing the reserves and production and has achieved better-than-expected production and operation results," said Xu Keqiang, CEO of the company.

"Going forward, under the premise of guaranteeing a safe production environment, the company will further explore internal and external potential, continuously carry out work related to cost reduction and efficiency enhancement, organize and advance various works in an orderly method, and therefore strive to complete the annual production and business targets."

For the first quarter of 2021, the company's average realized oil price increased by 20.5 percent year-on-year to $59.07 per barrel, which was in line with the changes of international oil prices, it said.

Its capital expenditure decreased by 5.1 percent year-on-year to approximately 16.04 billion yuan ($2.47 billion) as a result of the planned schedule of development projects, the company said.