Partner Country Series - Update on Overseas Investments by China’s National Oil Companies

Chinese national oil companies (NOCs) first ventured overseas to invest in oil and gas production more than 20 years ago. Today, they have emerged to become international players with activities spreading across more than 40 countries and producing 2.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (mboe/d) of oil and gas outside of China. Chinese companies have contributed much-needed investments in global oil and gas production. This report provides an update on overseas activity by China’s National Oil Companies (NOCs) between 2011 and 2013 and is a follow-up publication of IEA’s previous report in 2011, Overseas Investments by Chinese National Oil Companies: Assessing the Drivers and Impacts. It aims to examine the trends exhibited by investments made by Chinese NOCs and the risks and challenges they face today and raises the question if China’s long standing non-interference foreign policy could still be valid given China’s worldwide commercial interests, including those of the NOCs.