SINGAPORE, Feb 1 (Reuters) –

* A north China natural gas field, invested by French oil firm Total, pumped a record 2.24 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas in 2018, 11 percent more than a year earlier, according to China’s state energy group CNPC that operates the field

* Total and CNPC signed a deal to jointly develop the Sulige South field in north China’s Ordos basin in 2011 and production had started in 2012. This is one of the handful foreign-invested gas projects in onshore China

* The joint venture currently operates 594 gas wells with a daily output of 6.5 million cubic metres, CNPC said on Friday

* China’s national oil companies are stepping up domestic drilling for oil and gas in a response to a government call to boost national energy security. China’s gas output rose 7.5 percent last year to record 161 bcm.

* Apart from Total, Shell and Chevron are also producing gas in China in joint operations with CNPC. (Reporting by Chen Aizhu, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)