In 2007, China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) submitted 219 patent applications and 161 of them had been received, including 20 invention patents. By the end of 2007, CNOOC possessed a total of 332 patents, among which 110 were invention patents.

Compared with 2006, the numbers of patent applications and approvals in 2007 had risen considerably. In 2006, the Company submitted 204 patent applications and 141 had been received, 12 of which were invention patents.

In 2007, invention patents took an increasing proportion in approved patents, and the patents covered the section of downstream as well as upstream business.

CNOOC has increased its investment on research and development year by year. In 2003 CNOOC issued regulations on patent management and since then it has kept on providing encouraging rewards to inventors of approved patents.