Once-acquisitive Chinese oil giant looks to revive global dealmaking
CNPC, Asia's top oil producer, is reviewing its global strategy as it looks to revive dealmaking, eyeing gas liquefaction and deepsea drilling as well as building on its record of producing more from aging wells, the head of its research arm said. China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and its listed arm PetroChina face stagnant oil output at home and a scarcity of new projects globally to boost reserves even as slowing economic growth and surging EV usage erode domestic demand, although mounting geopolitical barriers limit its room to manoeuvre. CNPC may rekindle investing in large oil and gas assets as an operator, as it did two decades ago with its $4 billion purchase of Canada's PetroKazakhstan and its takeover of Devon Energy's operations in Indonesia, said Lu Ruquan, who is director of CNPC's Economics and Technology Research Institute (ETRI) and is involved in strategy discussions.