Pentagon blacklists Cnooc due to military links
Further escalation could lead to Chinese NOC becoming locked out of US-dollar-based financial system
Cnooc, China’s main offshore energy explorer, faces the risk of sanctions from the administration of outgoing US president Donald Trump after the Pentagon added the state-owned NOC to a blacklist of companies with alleged links to the Chinese military. The official blacklisting of Cnooc by the US Department of Defense in early December confirmed days of speculation that the company was in Washington’s crosshairs, and marked the first time one of China’s three NOCs has been directly embroiled in the geopolitical fight between the two superpowers. There is no sign for now that the other two companies, CNPC and Sinopec, will also be blacklisted. Shares in Cnooc’s listed unit in Hong Kong slumpe
Also in this section
16 January 2026
The country’s global energy importance and domestic political fate are interlocked, highlighting its outsized oil and gas powers, and the heightened fallout risk
16 January 2026
The global maritime oil transport sector enters 2026 facing a rare convergence of crude oversupply, record newbuild deliveries and the potential easing of several geopolitical disruptions that have shaped trade flows since 2022
15 January 2026
Rebuilding industry, energy dominance and lower energy costs are key goals that remain at odds in 2026
14 January 2026
Chavez’s socialist reforms boosted state control but pushed knowledge and capital out of the sector, opening the way for the US shale revolution
