China National Offshore Oil Corporation

China National Offshore Oil Corporation, commonly called CNOOC Group, was established with State Council approval on February 15, 1982, as a state-owned enterprise. The group describes itself as China’s largest offshore oil and gas producer; its registered capital is RMB 113.8 billion and it has five listed companies. [1]

CNOOC’s current portfolio extends beyond offshore exploration and development. Its stated business areas include professional technical services; refining-product sales and fertilizers; natural-gas production and power generation; financial services; and newer-energy activities such as offshore wind power. CNOOC’s own business overview presents oil and gas as the core while identifying gas and power, refining and marketing, and financial services as parts of a broader energy-industry chain. [1] [2]

The parent group should be distinguished from China National Offshore Oil Corporation Limited, or CNOOC Limited, the separately listed upstream company. CNOOC Limited says it is listed in Hong Kong and Shanghai, mainly explores for, develops, produces, and sells crude oil and natural gas, and is approximately 62.13% owned by CNOOC Group according to its corporate FAQ. [3]

That parent-subsidiary relationship also explains CNOOC Group’s relevance to partnership records involving offshore China. CNOOC Group retains the exclusive right to enter product-sharing contracts with foreign contractors for offshore-China acreage open to foreign cooperation, while CNOOC Limited performs the operating-company role under transferred rights and obligations, except for state-level management and supervision responsibilities. The group is therefore an important corporate counterparty and controlling institution in China’s offshore energy network, but it is not interchangeable with CNOOC Limited or with the engineering contractor COOEC. [4] [1]