6. China National Petroleum - China
China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) is a state-owned integrated oil and gas company. The company has exploration and production projects in China and 30 other countries and is an oilfield services provider in 50 countries. PetroChina Co. Ltd. is a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation.The company also operates some older refineries and an extensive oil and gas pipeline network in China (including 70 percent of the country's crude oil pipelines). It has a network of 18,000 gas stations across China. In 2009 CNPC completed more than 1,900 exploration wells and reported proved reserves of more than 1 billion metric tons of oil equivalent"China's appetite for energy seems almost insatiable, and the nation's largest oil company continues to rush to meet the country's needs. China National Petroleum made a profit in 2010, and it claims that it was able to add new oil and gas reserves to its portfolio quickly enough to keep the company flush with fuel," Fortune magazine said."Part of CNPC's strength comes from its partnerships with governments of oil-rich countries and the multinational companies that operate there. CNPC is working with Russia, Venezuela, Iraq and Qatar, and it has partnered with BP, Total and Shell. Like Sinopec, CNPC is starting to look more and more like a multinational energy company itself," the magazine added. Reuters

Sudan has granted its main ally and oil buyer China more oil exploration rights as both countries seek to boost ties, Sudan's foreign minister said.

On Monday, Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi visited Khartoum in the first high-level visit of a Chinese official since South Sudan became independent last month during which he assured continued support.

"(Sudan's) President (Omar Hassan) al-Bashir told the Chinese minister that Chinese firm (China National Petroleum Corp) CNPC will be granted the right to explore oil in three new blocs," Sudan's foreign minister Ali Ahmed Karti told reporters late on Monday.

He spoke after Yang had met Bashir before leaving on Tuesday for talks in the southern capital Juba.

Karti said China has committed itself to develop more than one new oil field in Sudan, without giving details.

China, which has been aggressively pursuing natural resources in Africa, has maintained close ties with Sudan throughout a U.S. trade embargo. North Sudan was the sixth-largest source of Chinese oil imports in 2010.

Most Sudanese oil is located in South Sudan, but exports to China and elsewhere have to pass through pipelines and a seaport located in the north, which gives export customers an incentive to promote good relations between the two Sudans.

President Bashir has been shunned by Western countries since being indicted by the International Criminal Court in the Hague for war crimes and genocide. China opposes the indictment.

Court Sudan Sudan China