BEIJING, Jan. 14 -- China National Offshore Oil Corp. Limited (CNOOC Ltd.), the country's largest offshore oil producer, announced Tuesday that Liuhua 19-5 gas field has started production.

The gas field is expected to hit its peak production of 29 million cubic feet per day within the year, a company press release said.

The project is in the Pearl River Estuary Basin in the South China Sea with an average water depth of about 185 meters.

It was designed to share the existing production facilities of Panyu 30-1 gas field. Two new producing wells have also been drilled.

CNOOC owns 100 percent of the gas field and is its operator.