Incremental gains in overseas production weren't enough to offset the declines in Chinese oil and gas production, state-owned CNOOC Ltd. reported Wednesday.

The China National Offshore Oil Corp. said Wednesday that third quarter production of 116.2 million barrels of oil equivalent marked a 1.3 percent decline from last year. Offshore production from China yielded 73.8 million barrels of oil equivalent, a 2.3 percent decline from last year, while overseas production of 42.4 million boe marked a 0.7 percent gain from third quarter 2016.

CNOOC said the drop in offshore China was because its fields were in decline, rather than regular maintenance.

"During the third quarter of the year, the company made every effort to fully tap potential, constantly push forward quality and efficiency enhancement," CEO Yuan Guangyu said in a statement.

China Offshore Oil Engineering Co., a CNOOC division, said earlier this year the offshore market was improving and Chinese companies were looking to capitalize on the momentum.

When oil prices hit historic lows last year, CNOOC, the country's largest producer, lowered its production forecast for 2016 by 3.5 percent and pledged to put cost control and efficiency at the forefront of its agenda.

"We are confident that we will achieve our production and operation targets for the year and continuously create greater value for the shareholders," the CEO said.

The company earlier this year turned in one of its worst performances ever, with oil and gas revenues down 17 percent from 2015. On Wednesday, the company said revenue was up 16.9 percent from last year, a gain attributed to improved market conditions.

CNOOC realized an average price for oil during the third quarter of $50.87 per barrel, up 20.4 percent year-on-year. The price for Brent crude oil, the global benchmark, was near $58 per barrel early Wednesday, up nearly $10 per barrel from this time last year.

CNOOC this year made five new discoveries and put four new projects into production.

China has an energy-hungry economy and the second largest economy in the world after the United States. In a September report, the Asian Development Bank said Chinese growth in the first half of the year was stronger than expected. Expansion of 6.7 percent is expected this year, an increase of 0.2 percent from the previous forecast.

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