ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the Chinese oil and gas industry. Before 1982, all oil and gas exploration and production activities in China were organized by a ministry in the central government, although the ministry was restructured and renamed many times. In 1950, the Ministry of Fuel Industry has started oil exploration in Sichuan basin and geological survey in the Ordos basin. The successful production at Daqing oilfield soon became the most prominent showcase in the Chinese Communist propaganda. In the 1960s, China started to export oil in small amount and used the acquired foreign currency to buy industrial equipment from Japan and Europe. China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) was established in 1982 to be responsible for all offshore oil and gas production. From 1949 to 1987, the government set a single wellhead price for all natural gas in China. Chinese national companies suddenly increased their overseas acquisitions of oil and gas resources since 2009.
