Letter from China: State firms stay committed to hydrocarbons
Beijing has made big promises on emissions, but China’s NOCs are still going for gas
As BP marked its UK offshore wind debut with a blockbuster winning bid, on the other side of the world one of China’s biggest energy producers got to work installing a giant floating platform in a show of commitment to fossil fuels. The 100,000t floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) platform—the world’s biggest, according to operator Cnooc, one of Chinas’ ‘big three’ state-controlled oil and gas firms—will serve China’s first domestically operated deepwater gas field in the South China Sea. Built to last 150 years, it will help the Lingshui 17-2 field meet one-quarter of gas demand in the sprawling Greater Bay Area, which includes Hong Kong and Macao. Cnooc’s work at the Lingshu
Also in this section
8 December 2025
The Caribbean country’s role in the global oil market is significantly diminished, but disruptions caused by outright conflict would still have implications for US Gulf Coast refineries
5 December 2025
Mistaken assumptions around an oil bull run that never happened are a warning over the talk of a supply glut
4 December 2025
Time is running out for Lukoil and Rosneft to divest international assets that will be mostly rendered useless to them when the US sanctions deadline arrives in mid-December
3 December 2025
Aramco’s pursuit of $30b in US gas partnerships marks a strategic pivot. The US gains capital and certainty; Saudi Arabia gains access, flexibility and a new export future
