China National Offshore Oil Corp.,or CNOOC, China's leading offshore oil and gas producer, announced Thursday it will build a liquefied natural gas production facility in Zhuhai, a special economic zone in south China's Guangdong Province.

CNOOC has signed a contract with the Zhuhai government on its first LNG project, company sources said.

With a designed daily production capacity of 360 tons, the project will be located on Hengqin Island within Zhuhai. Natural gas resources for the project will come from three gas fields in Guangdong.

The LNG will mainly be supplied to local cities, including Zhuhai and Zhongshan, the sources said.

Listed in Hong Kong, CNOOC earned a net profit of 30.9 billion yuan (4.01 billion U.S. dollars) last year.