CNOOC Ltd, China's No 3 oil company, said it will start operating the country's second-largest offshore natural gas field in September, to supply China's biggest fertilizer plant on the island province of Hainan.

　　CNOOC will send "more than 1 billion cubic meters" of gas annually from its Dongfang 1-1 field for use as raw material at an 800,000 metric ton-a-year urea plant run by parent, China National Offshore Oil Corp, said Meng Jun, chief financial officer of CNOOC Fudao Co, the unit that runs the facility. The fertilizer plant is scheduled to begin operating in September.

　　"We are timing the start of the gas field with that of the plant on Hainan island," said Mark Qiu, CNOOC's chief financial officer in an interview. Qiu declined to say how the field would contribute to CNOOC's income and profit.

　　Dongfang 1-1 would be the biggest gas project China Offshore operates, including the fertilizer plant, offshore production and 105-kilometer pipeline linking the two. The project is key to the company's plans to boost gas output and expandsintosareas that use the fuel, such as power and distribution.

　　CNOOC agreed to pay a total of US million for stakes in Australia's North West Shelf project and Indonesia's Tangguh gas fields.