Sinopec said the wells would add 180,000 cubic meters of daily gas supply, boosting the total daily output of the field to nearly 20 million cubic meters, Xinhua reported.

The Fuling field is in China's southwestern Sichuan basin.

The increased output will be enough to meet the daily energy demand of about 40 million households, Xinhua reported Sinopec as saying.  

The Fuling field has become a clean energy source for more than 70 cities along the Yangtze River, it added.

(Reporting by Engen Tham; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)