BEIJING, March 28 (Xinhua) -- PetroChina, China's leading oil producer, estimates the reserves of the oilfield it has recently discovered in Baohai Bay, eastern China, at 2.2 billion barrels, sources with the overseas-listed company said on Wednesday.

According to the company sources, the daily output of the newly found oilfield, which is located at the Nanpu block of PetroChina's Jidong Oilfield at Bohai Bay, will likely reach 200,800 barrels in three years.

The Nanpu block, partly offshore, covers an area of 1,300-1,500 square kilometers and expects to produce light crude.

The newly found oilfield is the largest China has discovered over the past ten years, with its estimated output equivalent to 5.4 percent of China's total crude production in 2006, according to PetroChina.

The sources said PetroChina would announce some details about the newly found oilfield in May or June.

PetroChina boasted Asia's highest profitability last year with 142.2 billion yuan (US$18.5 billion) in annual net profit.

China's oil dependency, or net oil imports against oil consumption, went up 4.1 percentage points year-on-year to 47 percent in 2006, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

Last year, the nation produced 183.68 million tons of crude oil, up 1.7 percent, and imported 138.84 million tons, up 16.9 percent. Its oil consumption (crude plus oil products) amounted to 346.55 million tons, up 9.3 percent.

It is predicted that China's crude oil imports will reach 160 million tons.

Besides oil deposits in Bohai Sea, China discovered oil resources in Tarim Basin of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and in central part of the country over recent years. It also found natural gas deposits in Tarim, Ordos and Sichuan basins.