Sinopec is buying up assets around the world, racking up over $22 billion in oil and gas asset deals since 2010 in the UK, US, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Australia and Egypt.
Recently, Sinopec said it would purchase a 10% stake in Marathon Oil Corp's oil and gas field in Angola for $1.5 billion-it's second purchase in this field in the past two years. It also scooped up stakes in five US shale venues this year.
One of its biggest deals was its purchase of a stake in Portugal's Gal Energija Brazil holdings for $5.19 billion in November 2012.
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Amid the chaos and bloody transition that is Egypt, China sees more opportunity in the Middle East and the latest hit on its buying scene is a 33% stake in Apache Corp.'s Egyptian oil and gas holdings.
China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) will by a 33% stake in US-owned Apache Corporation's oil and gas business in Egypt for $3.1 billion in cash.
Sinopec will be buying into an operation that produced about 100,000 barrels of oil per day and over 350 million cubic feet of natural gas per day as of last year.
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The political violence engulfing Egypt right now poses more of an immediate threat to export through the Suez Canal than it does production in remote areas.
The Egypt buy is significant because it represents Sinopec's biggest hydrocarbons purchase in the Middle East to date. According to the Wall Street Journal, this deal is just the beginning of a strategic global partnership between Sinopec and Apache. The deal should be closed in the fourth quarter of this year.
What has been the result of this global shopping spree? Well, Sinopec has reported a 24% increase in first-half net profit, outperforming the larger PetroChina Co.
By. Charles Kennedy
Charles is a writer for Oilprice.com More