BEIJING, Dec 22 (Reuters) - China will promote stable domestic crude oil production at 200 million metric tons per year, equivalent to 4 million barrels per day (bpd), according to a report from CCTV citing National Energy Administration Director Zhang Jianhua on Friday.
The country should increase the exploration and development of deepwater and non-conventional assets, as well as maintaining stable output from mature fields, the report said.
China has succeeded in growing domestic output in recent years by tapping offshore assets and deeper, harder to reach reserves, reversing a period of decline between 2015 and 2018 amid slowing production at mature wells.
However, production for 2023 at around 4.18 million bpd remains below the 2015 record of 4.3 million bpd.
Analysts have cautioned that the technical difficulty of developing new reserves, such as shale reserves, mean that production growth is likely to slow going forward.
(ton=7.3 barrels for crude oil conversion) (Reporting by Andrew Hayley; Editing by Christopher Cushing)