CNOOC developing new deep sea gas block in South China Sea -Xinhua
BEIJING, June 19 (Reuters) -
* China's offshore oil and gas producer CNOOC has started developing a new gas field in the South China Sea, the official Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday
* The Lingshui 17-2 gas field is the first deep sea gas block fully operated by a Chinese company, Xinhua said citing CNOOC officials
* The deep sea project, which was discovered in 2014, is 150 km (94 miles) south of China's southern Hainan island, with an average operational depth of 1,500 metres, according to a Reuters report from that year
* CNOOC is ready to start building a subsea level platform used for drilling, Xinhua said (Reporting by Meng Meng and Aizhu Chen; Editing by Tom Hogue)