The gas block, occupying 1,969 square kilometres (757.3 square miles), marked China's largest onshore exploration involving a foreign group, said a CNPC statement released Tuesday.

Under the terms, CNPC, the parent of China's largest oil producer PetroChina, will hold a 51 percent stake in the Chuandongbei gas block in Sichuan province while Chevron has the remaining 49 percent, it said.

The field has proven reserves of 175.97 billion cubic meters (6.2 trillion cubic feet).

"The signing of the contract demonstrates our worldwide focus on large-scale exploration and production projects, and our long-term strategy to grow our business in China," Dave O'Reilly, Chevron's chief executive said.

Last year, CNPC signed a deal with French energy firm Total to explore the Sulige gas field in the Inner Mongolia region.

That deal followed plans to jointly develop the Changbei gas field in the same region with Anglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch Shell.

China's natural gas output is expected to nearly double to 94 billion cubic meters in 2010 from 58.6 billion cubic meters in 2006, but it will still need imports to fill a gap of 16 billion cubic meters annually, according to Xinhua.

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