Rising oil and gas prices have made up for the decline in China's output of crude oil because of a series of oil spills last year, according to a report released by the State Oceanic Administration on Friday.
The 2011 marine economy report said the added value of the offshore oil and gas industry reached 173 billion yuan ($27.43 billion) with a year-on-year increase of 6.7 percent.
The oil spill incident in the Penglai 19-3 oilfield in Bohai Bay last June released about 700 barrels of oil into the bay, according to the oilfield's operator, ConocoPhillips China's estimates.
This led the China National Offshore Oil Corporation, which holds a 51 percent stake in the oilfield, to reduce its annual output target from between 355 million and 364 million barrels of oil to about 331 million barrels of oil.
Administration spokesman Shi Qingfeng said the total output China's marine economy was more than 4.5 trillion yuan in 2011, about 10.4 percent more than 2010, providing job opportunities to more than 34 million people last year.
