China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., the state-controlled oil company, is suing Petroleos de Venezuela SA in U.S. courts for unpaid bills. Sinopec, as the Chinese company is known, also filed a request for arbitration against PDVSA at the International Chamber of Commerce, as it alleges damages of at least $23.7 million, according to court papers.
Ecuadorian state-owned energy firm Petroamazonas EP, which is looking to boost production at nine of its existing oil fields and on Monday signed a series of investment deals amounting to US$ 1 billion for those areas, enlisting the help of both domestic and foreign companies.
A senior executive at state energy firm China Sinopec Group is under investigation for suspected serious disciplinary violations. The China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) named Wang Tianpu, an oil industry veteran and president of Sinopec Group, in a statement on its website. Sinopec Group is the parent of Sinopec Corp, Asia's largest oil refiner.
Spain's Repsol and China's Sinopec have made an oil discovery offshore Brazil that could be one of the biggest so far in the area and that boosted confidence that across in Africa, Angola's deepwater reserves may be abundant too.
China Petrochemical Corp., Asia's biggest refiner, agreed on Thursday to pay 3.54 billion dollars for a 30% stake in Galp Energia SGPS SA's Brazilian unit, in what is China's largest overseas energy acquisition this year.
Spanish oil and gas group Repsol YPF announced last week that its joint venture with China's Sinopec Group had made a new discovery of good quality oil in Brazilian ultra-deep water.