State-run explorer CNOOC Ltd set the tone this month. After an international output cut agreed late last year lifted benchmark Brent crude futures to a peak of nearly $58 a barrel, not seen for 18 months, CNOOC said it would spend as much as $10 billion, up to 40 percent more than 2016.
Industry executives and analysts say that increase - the first in CNOOC's annual spending since 2014 - is likely to be followed by peers in a sharp turnaround after sliding crude prices led to years of job and budget cuts across the world's top energy market.
"We believe $50-$60 will be the new normal for the next couple of years," said Wang Haitao, chief executive of privately run Chinese oil service and equipment firm Kerui Group. "Once oil is above $50, it's not longer a pessimistic figure."