Chinese oil companies are changing their approach to investing in oil and gas projects overseas, placing more emphasis on community development and less on Beijing's political goals. Over the past decade, China's state-controlled energy giants have been the most prolific buyers of oil and gas companies and fields internationally, spurred by a government policy to secure resources to fuel the country's economic boom.
But the companies have been accused of linking their help for less developed nations to the sale of energy assets and of cosying up to pariah regimes. Senior officials with state-controlled oil giants CNPC and CNOOC said at a major industry gathering in Qatar this week that they would behave more like big Western international oil groups such as Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Exxon Mobil.
"You will see more (Chinese companies) using the same practices as others," Chen Weidong, Chief Energy Scientist with China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), told Reuters in an interview. "All the Chinese companies are changing quickly." The big Western oil companies grew out of one-sided deals with African and Middle Eastern countries in the early 20th century.
But in recent decades the balance of power has shifted towards resource holders, requiring oil majors to offer better deals. Companies like Shell, for example, use an ability to help build up a local oil services industry as a calling card to gain access to resources. But Chinese companies are still better known for flying in work crews to construct pipelines and plant, rather than hiring locals in the underdeveloped African or Latin American countries where they typically invest.