As the world’s largest refiner and China’s top jet fuel producer, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (SINOPEC) operates businesses across 75 countries and regions. It has built a diversified global overseas oil & gas portfolio covering both upstream and downstream sectors, onshore and offshore conventional and unconventional resources. Against the backdrop of volatile geopolitics and mounting operational risks, studying SINOPEC’s global overseas layout is critical to understanding its triple roles as a national strategic energy executor, commercial value creator and industrial upgrading leader. It also serves as a prime window to observe how China’s energy industry secures supply chain safety and pursues low-carbon transformation worldwide.
SINOPEC’s African footprint features a full-industry-chain, diversified strategy spanning upstream oil & gas investment, midstream and downstream refining engineering services, crude trading and energy infrastructure construction. A core trend in its African upstream investment in recent years is simultaneous asset downsizing and portfolio optimization:
SINOPEC’s Africa strategy can be summarized as a shift from extensive expansion to intensive development: divesting high-risk, low-efficiency assets while consolidating ties with core partner nations to build a more resilient, sustainable African business portfolio.
SINOPEC conducts oil & gas exploration and production in Angola through its wholly-owned subsidiary Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration and Production Corporation (SIPC) and Sonangol Sinopec International (SSI), a joint venture with Angola’s national oil company Sonangol.
In summary, SINOPEC’s core Angola operations center on equity investment in deepwater oilfields and long-term crude supply partnerships. Flagship assets including Agogo and Platina guarantee stable overseas energy supplies and solidify bilateral energy ties with Angola. In March 2024, SINOPEC and Sonangol signed a memorandum of understanding to deepen cooperation, covering expanded oil & gas E&P, crude trading, and joint development of new energy and refining sectors.
Algeria constitutes the core of SINOPEC’s North African strategy, covering oil & gas exploration, production, petroleum and refining engineering services. SINOPEC entered Algeria in 2002 and maintains long-term cooperation with state oil firm Sonatrach.
SINOPEC’s upstream Egyptian operations originated from a landmark asset acquisition in 2013. In August 2013, SINOPEC invested USD 3.1 billion to purchase a 33% stake in Apache Corporation’s Egyptian oil & gas assets, forming a joint venture with Apache retaining field operator status. Assets are concentrated in Egypt’s remote Western Desert, largely insulated from domestic political volatility. As of September 2024, the Apache joint venture maintained stable, healthy operations, ranking as Egypt’s largest foreign crude producer and top-five natural gas producer. It has delivered over 52 million tons of oil equivalent in equity hydrocarbon volumes to SIPC cumulatively.
Petroleum engineering services represent another expanding business segment in Egypt. In 2005, Sinopec Star Petroleum partnered with EGAS (Egyptian Natural Gas Holding) and Tharwa Petroleum to establish Sino-Tharwa Drilling Company, delivering full-spectrum onshore/offshore drilling, workover, logging, cementing, geophysical exploration and well testing services.
SINOPEC entered Cameroon’s oil & gas market in 2011 via its wholly-owned subsidiary Addax Petroleum, acquiring an 80% stake in Shell’s Pecten Cameroon assets; national oil company SNH holds the remaining 20%. The project team achieved critical exploration breakthroughs: a 2012 discovery at the Padouk-1 exploration well in the Iroko Block, followed by deep formation exploration progress and commercial flow testing in recent years. SIPC Cameroon serves as SINOPEC’s local E&P vehicle, collaborating with SNH and international partners on field operations. Between 2022 and 2023, the team completed drilling of 7 development wells and 3 exploration wells across Alpha and Lima platforms, unlocking deep formation commercial hydrocarbon flows and lifting overall block output.
SINOPEC gained Gabonese upstream assets via its 2009 acquisition of Addax Petroleum, operating three onshore fields: Obangue, Tsiengui and Autour. In 2013, the Gabonese government revoked Obangue’s production license, triggering legal disputes resolved through renegotiated field contracts restoring SINOPEC’s operational rights. In March 2024, Addax’s Gabonese petroleum permits expired. Private domestic firm KOREG took over operation of the Autour Oilfield and achieved first oil production on November 27, 2025, making it Gabon’s first privately operated producing field. Gabon Oil Company (GOC) signed a 10-year production sharing contract with KOREG to take over mature Obangue and Tsiengui fields. SINOPEC no longer holds operational rights to the three Gabonese oilfields.
SINOPEC has fully exited four major Nigerian oil production blocks and transferred all assets to NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation). On November 1, 2022, Addax Petroleum signed a Transfer, Settlement and Exit Agreement with NNPC to formally withdraw from four oil leases (OML 123/124 and OML 126/137), resolving long-running contractual disputes over drilling costs, tax incentives and production sharing terms. Separately, Savannah Energy, a UK energy firm, acquired SIPEC’s 49% non-operated equity stake in the Stubb Creek Oil & Gas Field in March 2025.
SINOPEC’s Southern African layout focuses on downstream refining and retail distribution via mature market acquisitions. On March 22, 2017, SINOPEC closed a USD 900 million purchase agreement with Chevron Global Energy:
SINOPEC ranks among Saudi Arabia’s largest crude buyers, supplying premium petroleum engineering, refining EPC services, competitive petrochemical equipment and materials to Saudi Aramco and the kingdom’s petrochemical industry.
SINOPEC’s petroleum engineering division operates over one quarter of all rigs contracted by Saudi Aramco and has remained its largest onshore drilling contractor since 2014.
SINOPEC Refining & Chemical Engineering entered Saudi Arabia’s EPC market in 2005 via a joint venture bid for SABIC’s polyolefin complex, completing 51 out of 64 awarded projects across Yanbu, Jubail, Turaif and Jizan.
The Saudi Aramco SINOPEC Yanbu Refinery stands as a flagship bilateral energy cooperation project and SINOPEC’s first overseas integrated refining investment. Launched in early 2012 with total investment of USD 8.6 billion, ownership split 37.5% SINOPEC / 62.5% Saudi Aramco. Commissioned in January 2016 with annual crude throughput of 20 million tons, the refinery operates to world-class HSE standards, producing high-grade transport fuels and value-added refined products for domestic Saudi and global export markets.
SINOPEC operates cross-value-chain assets in Kazakhstan spanning oil & gas exploration, petrochemical construction, engineering services and new energy, with major breakthroughs achieved in recent years.
On June 16, 2025, SINOPEC and KazMunayGas (KMG) signed joint operation and investment agreements for the Berezovsky Block (Block 2), holding equal 50% equity stakes. SINOPEC provides full exploration-period financing for the mining license application to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, securing greater technical leadership and decision-making authority over the overseas asset. Exploration work commitments include 300 km of 2D seismic surveys, 300 sq. km of 3D seismic acquisition and one 7,000-meter deep exploratory well. Located on the northern flank of the Caspian Basin, the block holds estimated geological resources of 500 million tons of oil equivalent.
The Silleno Project represents SINOPEC’s largest and deepest industrial cooperation asset in Kazakhstan, a national flagship petrochemical complex advancing Sino-Kazakh energy integration. Jointly invested by three parties: KazMunayGas (40%, feedstock supply & overall coordination), Sibur (30%, process technology & European market channels), and SINOPEC (30%, full EPC delivery + China market access). Total investment reaches USD 7.7 billion, targeted for commissioning in 2029. Sited within Atyrau State National Petrochemical Industrial Park and fed by ethane from the giant Tengiz Oilfield, the complex features a 1.25 million tons/year polyethylene plant utilizing Lummus steam cracking, Chevron Phillips Univation polymerization and Axens butene technologies. The EPC consortium combines Spain’s Tecnicas Reunidas and SINOPEC Engineering (SEI). Project outputs serve packaging, automotive components and construction sectors, projected to contribute 1.2% of Kazakhstan’s annual GDP post-commissioning. In May 2023, SINOPEC acquired its 30% equity stake with formal equity closing completed in April 2024. Separately, SINOPEC and KMG signed a joint pre-feasibility study agreement for integrated PTA/PET chemical plants in 2023 to evaluate future downstream petrochemical investment.
In July 2025, SINOPEC launched drilling operations for its first onshore wildcat well “Saryarka-1” in Aktobe Region with USD 9 million investment. The well sits within a hydrocarbon-rich zone adjacent to a key pumping station on the China-Kazakhstan Crude Oil Pipeline (30 million tons annual throughput). Commercial discoveries will expand joint energy cooperation and potentially establish a joint research institute extending collaboration from resource extraction to energy technology innovation, marking SINOPEC’s expansion from conventional field development to high-risk frontier exploration.
SINOPEC’s Russian portfolio covers the full oil & gas value chain including exploration, gas processing, petrochemical manufacturing and engineering services, anchored by flagship assets: UDM Oilfield, AGCC Petrochemical Complex and AGPP Gas Processing Plant. Deepening China-Russia comprehensive strategic coordination will unlock broader cross-sector energy collaboration in the future.
In 2006, SINOPEC and Rosneft jointly acquired 96.86% equity in UDM with ownership split 49% SINOPEC / 51% Rosneft. UDM controls 68% of Udmurt Republic’s oil reserves and 65% of domestic crude output as the region’s largest producer. The field deploys cost-efficient technologies including concurrent injection-production and deep rotary perforation to sustain mature field output while adhering to strict HSSE standards targeting zero emissions, pollution and operational incidents, repeatedly ranked top in regional safety and environmental compliance. This remains China’s sole producing oilfield asset in Russia, a benchmark for bilateral energy cooperation. Cumulative crude production exceeded 89 million tons by end-2020, contributing approximately 13.5% of the Udmurt Republic’s annual fiscal revenue.
Signed in June 2019 under the witness of Chinese and Russian heads of state, the joint venture between SINOPEC and Sibur is located in Amur Oblast, fed by ethane and LPG from the adjacent Amur Gas Processing Plant. The complex will produce 2.3 million tons of polyethylene and 400,000 tons of polypropylene annually via light hydrocarbon cracking, with construction progress hitting 87.9% as of October 2025. Upon completion, it will emerge as one of the world’s largest, most advanced polymer production hubs, elevating China-Russia cooperation in high-end chemical materials.
In 2017, SINOPEC Refining & Chemical Engineering partnered with Italy’s Tecnimont to secure the P3 utility EPC package covering pipe racks, flare systems, tank farms and loading terminals. AGPP represents a world-scale gas processing facility with annual throughput of 42 billion cubic meters and 6 million cubic meters of helium annual output, supplying 38 billion cubic meters of pipeline gas to China via the China-Russia Eastern Gas Pipeline upon completion.
In June 2019, SINOPEC and Novatek established a China-based LNG trading joint venture to purchase liquefied natural gas from Novatek’s global portfolio for domestic Chinese end-users, diversifying China’s natural gas supply sources and deepening bilateral gas trade ties.
Founded in 2013 on the basis of Krasnoyarsk Nitrile Rubber Plant, the JV produces NBR nitrile rubber. Cumulative output reached 280,000 tons by 2020, exported to 15 countries including China and Russia. This is SINOPEC’s first overseas chemical manufacturing joint venture, realizing localized production of specialty elastomers and strengthening regional industrial chain integration.
In September 2019, SINOPEC and Sibur planned a joint 50/50 SEBS production plant with minimum annual capacity of 20,000 tons. SEBS is widely used in plastic modification, adhesives and consumer goods; the facility will fill Russia’s domestic supply gap for high-end elastomers previously reliant on import. SINOPEC also acquired a 10% strategic equity stake in Sibur in 2015 to solidify capital and operational cooperation.
SINOPEC Petroleum Engineering secured the Anping-Tai’an Section 3 tender for the Eastern Gas Pipeline, a landmark bilateral energy infrastructure asset that will interconnect with China’s West-East Gas Pipeline network to boost national natural gas storage and transportation flexibility.
In 2020, SINOPEC delivered four high-performance cold-climate drilling rigs rated for -45°C operation with maximum 4,000-meter drilling depth, enabling Chinese high-end oil equipment penetration into Russia’s extreme northern oil and gas frontier basins.
SINOPEC’s Venezuelan assets span upstream production and downstream refining, securing massive long-term resource volumes via multi-decade supply agreements. Morgan Stanley analysis estimates SINOPEC controls 2.8 billion barrels of equity crude reserves in Venezuela, the largest holding among all foreign energy operators, reflecting China’s long-term strategic energy presence in the country.
SINOPEC’s first major Venezuelan heavy oil asset within the Orinoco Heavy Oil Belt, the world’s largest concentrated heavy oil resource basin. Formal cooperation launched in 2010 as part of a USD 40 billion bilateral energy cooperation framework between China and Venezuela. SINOPEC and PDVSA formed a joint venture with PDVSA holding a controlling minimum 60% equity share; the project targets peak daily output of 200,000 barrels (10 million tons annually). The two parties committed an additional USD 1.4 billion in investment in 2013 to accelerate development. The block produces ultra-heavy crude with low API gravity, requiring proprietary heavy oil upgrading technologies mastered by Chinese operators as a core competitive advantage enabling the partnership.
Adjacent to Junin Block 1 within the Orinoco Heavy Oil Belt, the two parties signed a joint reserve assessment agreement as early as November 2007, formalizing full development terms in December 2010 under the same USD 40 billion cooperation package. The project mirrors Junin Block 1’s development model: targeted daily crude output of 200,000 barrels paired with a dedicated 200,000-barrel-per-day Cabruta Refinery for integrated upstream-downstream operations. Oil reservoirs lie between 500–1,500 meters depth with API gravity of only 7–8, classified as ultra-heavy crude with high porosity and saturation, yet presenting significant technical extraction challenges.
A core downstream refining asset outlined in the 2010 bilateral cooperation framework, the joint PDVSA-SINOPEC refinery designed for 200,000 barrels daily processing capacity. The facility was intended to locally upgrade Venezuelan heavy crude and boost domestic refined product value, addressing Venezuela’s chronic domestic fuel shortages. However, massive capital requirements, extended construction timelines and persistent domestic political and economic volatility have delayed project progress and risk prolonged suspension.
SINOPEC’s global overseas energy strategy follows a clear dual logic: optimizing high-risk, low-return mature assets while doubling down on core long-term cooperation markets across Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, Russia and Latin America. Its diversified portfolio integrates upstream resource equity, engineering EPC services, downstream refining and retail, and emerging new energy cooperation, serving dual national priorities: safeguarding China’s energy supply security and advancing international energy industrial cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative. Amid shifting global geopolitics and energy transition trends, SINOPEC will continue refining its asset portfolio to build a more resilient, low-carbon and globally competitive overseas energy ecosystem.
