JINAN - China's second largest oil field, Shengli Oilfield, is aiming at increasing its crude oil output to 27.5 million tons in 2012, 160,000 tons more than the 2011 target.

As the flagship oil producing unit of China's state-owned petroleum giant Sinopec, Shengli Oilfield has fulfilled its 2011 plan of 27.34 million tons of oil production so far, trailing only behind PetroChina's Daqing Oilfield in output.

Located in the Yellow River delta bordering Bohai Sea, the Shengli Oil field was discovered in 1961, and its development began in 1964, with daily production of approximately 650,000 barrels.

Its main working area covers 28 counties under the jurisdiction of eight prefecture level cities in Shandong province.

Nowadays, exploration has expanded to offshore oil fields and basins in northwest Gansu province and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

In November, Shengli Oilfield discovered in Xinjiang its 78th oil field, Chunhui Oilfield, with reserves of over 50 million tons.

China's crude oil production went up 6.9 percent in 2010 to exceed 200 million tons, according to the National Statistics Bureau.