Leading from the front lines

Fu Chengyu, chairman of Asia's largest petroleum refiner China Petroleum and Chemical Corp or Sinopec Group.

Having executives like Fu who are truly international in approach and style at the top made the real difference for companies like CNOOC and Sinopec, Qu said. Fu speaks English fluently, and is well aware of the nuances and details involved with foreign collaborations, especially in overseas markets.

The London-based Energy Intelligence Group, a market research company focused on the global energy sector, named Fu Petroleum Executive of the Year in 2012. Fu was the first Chinese executive to be given the honor in 15 years, and was lauded for his pioneering role in outbound acquisitions.

After taking over as chairman of Sinopec in 2011, Fu has applied his extensive experience in overseas mergers and acquisitions to revamp the overseas strategy of the company. Of the 11 overseas oil and gas M& As undertaken by Chinese companies in 2011, Sinopec conducted five.

CNOOC, BP sign 20-year LNG supply deal

Sinopecis allowing in private investors

The deals included the $5.1 billion acquisition of Brazilian deep-water assets from Portuguese company GALP Energia, making it the largest Chinese overseas oil and gas acquisition for that year. In 2012, Sinopec acquired one-third of Devon Energy Corp's stake in five shale plays in the US and also decided to acquire a 49 percent stake in US-based Talisman Energy Inc's UK subsidiary.

Ivan Sandrea, president of Energy Intelligence, terms Fu a "transformational figure" in China's oil industry and emerging markets. "By effectively harnessing the nation's strong technical skills, he has been a catalyst in the globalization of China's petroleum business," said Sandrea.

"The international oil market is open to all and we invest in it for profits," said Fu after receiving the award, adding that China's investments in the overseas oil markets have helped bolster global oil supplies. Last year, Sinopec continued its overseas expansion by completing three acquisitions in the US, Russia and Egypt.

Hou Hongbin, chief geologist of Sinopec, said though the company is still vulnerable in the upstream sector, it has been in a rapid development phase since 2011.

Though Sinopec has made several M& A strides, Fu's most impressive move in the international oil market was the unsuccessful deal with US-based Unocal Corp in 2005 when he was with CNOOC. It was one of China's earliest bids in the oil industry at a time when even the government officials were not convinced of the move. CNOOC had said in 2005 it planned to buy Unocal for $18.5 billion, but the deal could not be completed due to strong opposition from the US government.

"Fu made both domestic and overseas oil industry realize the value of CNOOC with its bid for Unocal," said Han Xiaoping, chief information officer of China Energy Net Consulting Co Ltd.