Shared Success: ConocoPhillips Celebrates 45 Years of Partnership in China

Reflecting a spirit of collaboration and a shared vision for energy development, ConocoPhillips China President Markel Hübinette recently accepted the prestigious 2025 Chinese Government Friendship Award for significant contributions to China’s economic and social development.

This recognition, which took place in September at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, set the stage for ConocoPhillips’ landmark 2026 milestone: commemorating 45 years of continuous partnership, innovation and progress in China.

“Since our involvement in China began in the early 1980s, we have played a meaningful role in China’s modern energy story, helping to unlock offshore potential and strengthen energy supply,” Hübinette shares. “From our collaboration in exploration and production with China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), to liquefied natural gas (LNG), and through our ongoing support of local communities, we are proud to contribute to a more efficient and sustainable energy industry in China, while improving the lives of local people.”

How it Started: ConocoPhillips’ History in China

ConocoPhillips entered China in 1981, during the early era of the Reform and Opening-up policies, which aimed to increase foreign investment and trade.
At that time, Phillips Petroleum Company, a predecessor of ConocoPhillips, was invited to explore the Pearl River Mouth Basin offshore Guangdong province.
There, the company discovered the Xijiang Oilfield, marking one of the first offshore oil discoveries by a foreign operator and laying the groundwork for long-standing collaboration with Chinese partners and contributing to the development of the country’s offshore oil and gas industry.

In 1999, Phillips and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) reached a significant milestone with the discovery of the Penglai Oilfield in the Bohai Sea. Since then, the two companies have jointly built 18 offshore platforms and a 300,000-ton floating production, storage, and offloading vessel.

As the largest offshore oilfield in China, Penglai’s success stands a as testament to the operational excellence and industry-leading vision of this mutually beneficial partnership
Today, Penglai’s cumulative crude oil production exceeds 550 million barrels — enough to power Beijing for roughly a year and a half — underscoring its vital role in supporting China’s energy supply.

ConocoPhillips has also played a pioneering role in broadening the Asia Pacific LNG market, delivering China’s first US LNG shipment from Alaska to Shanghai in 2011.
Through global joint venture projects, ConocoPhillips and its partners, including Sinopec and CNOOC, supply nearly 10 million tons of LNG per year to China under long-term contracts and spot cargo, accounting for 15% of China’s total annual LNG imports in 2025.

Since China began importing LNG in 2006, ConocoPhillips has delivered cargo to all the country’s major LNG-receiving terminals, underscoring the company’s commitment to supporting China’s sustainable energy goals.

Leading with Hear

Beyond its energy operations, ConocoPhillips has also focused on supporting communities in the regions where it operates.

Over nearly three decades, ConocoPhillips China has contributed more than 12 million USD to address key challenges affecting people’s lives across healthcare, education, environmental protection, and disaster relief.

“Our success as a company is deeply intertwined with the well-being of the communities we operate in,” Hübinette says.
In 2008, ConocoPhillips China partnered with TEDA International Cardiovascular Hospital in Tianjin to launch the “Heart for Heart” program.

The program addresses congenital heart disease, a leading cause of death among newborn babies in China, by addressing structural disparities in medical resources between urban and rural areas through free mobile screening and heart surgeries.

The partnership has provided life-saving surgeries for more than 774 children across 16 provinces and trained more than 2,000 medical personnel.
ConocoPhillips China is also a key supporter of quality education and the cultivation of the next generation of industry leaders.

In this spirit, ConocoPhillips China has worked with leading Chinese petroleum universities to support promising students as they pursue research studies ranging from oil and gas technology to low-carbon development and emission reduction solutions.

Future in China

As ConocoPhillips marks 45 years in China, its journey highlights the strength of long-standing local partnerships built on mutual benefit and support.

“We are extremely proud to have been a significant actor in China’s energy journey,” Hübinette says. “Building on the success of Penglai, ConocoPhillips is committed to deepening collaboration with Chinese partners by exploring potential upstream exploration and production opportunities, expanding LNG supply as a cleaner transition fuel and advancing low-carbon energy solutions to support China’s energy security and dual carbon goals. Working together, we can add value to ConocoPhillips’ global portfolio while advancing China’s energy supply and security and move forward on our shared pathway to lower emissions and global stability.”