OREANDA-NEWS. November 22, 2012. Mr. Fu Chengyu, Chairman of Sinopec Corp. has become the first Chinese entrepreneur to earn the distinction of receiving Energy Intelligence Group’s (EIG) “Petroleum Executive of the Year” award in 15 years. Mr. Fu received the award in London, reported the press-centre of Sinopec.

Energy Intelligence Group is one of the most authoritative independent providers of insight, analysis and data to the global energy industry, and the Petroleum Executive of the Year award, as selected by top global industry executives, is the international energy industry’s most prestigious award, given in recognition of outstanding leadership by an executive in the international energy industry. Nominations for the award are solicited from CEOs and other senior managers of more than one hundred of the world's largest oil and gas companies. These nominations are then voted on by a committee of previous award winners and former senior oil executives. Since 1997, past recipients of the award have included 15 senior executives from the energy industry including Lord John Browne (Group Chief Executive of The British Petroleum Company, plc), Lucio Noto (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Mobil Corporation), Mark Moody-Stuart (Chairman of the Committee of Managing Directors of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies), James J. Mulva (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Phillips Petroleum Company) and Christophe de Margerie (Chief Executive Officer of Total).

Since assuming the role of Chairman of Sinopec in 2011, Mr. Fu has applied his extensive experience in overseas mergers and acquisitions to reframe the overseas strategy of Sinopec Group, which is the world’s fifth-largest enterprise. In 2011, amongst the 11 overseas oil and gas mergers and acquisitions completed that year, Sinopec Group alone accounted for five. Amongst these five deals, the transaction amount of acquiring the Brazilian deep water assets from Portuguese company GALP was as much as US\\$5.1 billion, making it the largest Chinese overseas oil and gas acquisition in 2011. In 2012, Sinopec Group acquired one thirds of Devon’s stake in five shale plays in the United States. Over the course of the year, Sinopec Group also announced its intention to acquire a 49% stake in Talisman’s UK subsidiary. The successful completion of this transaction will allow Sinopec Group to participate in the exploration of Talisman’s 51 North Sea oil and gas fields, gain access to this area rich in oil and gas reserves, and further develop its deep water operation techniques. To date, Sinopec Group’s overseas business covers more than 20 nations and regions, forming the framework of its overseas oil and gas business expansion strategy. Sinopec Group has successfully entered the six major oil and gas regions including Africa, South America, Middle East, Asia Pacific, Russia-Central Asia and North America.

Prior to joining Sinopec, Mr. Fu worked at China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) since 1982, serving as the company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from 2003 to 2010. Over the course of his time at CNOOC, he also served as Chairman of the Joint Management Committee of the joint venture projects established between CNOOC and foreign oil giants such as Amoco, Chevron, Texaco, Phillips, Shell, Agip and others. Under Mr. Fu’s leadership, CNOOC was transformed into a truly global company with operations extending to 10 nations and regions, encompassing South East Asia, Australia, Africa and Caspian Sea.

With substantial experience in the oil and gas industry, as well as his extensive knowledge of China and the international market, Mr. Fu has served as Chairman of two of the three major Chinese oil companies over the course of his distinguished career.

In announcing the award for 2012, Ivan Sandrea, president of Energy Intelligence said, “His peers recognize that Mr. Fu is a transformational figure in China’s oil industry and emerging markets as a whole. He has extensive experience building partnerships with international oil companies and participating in Chinese oil and gas investments around the world. By effectively harnessing China’s strong technical skills, he has been a catalyst in this globalization of his country’s petroleum business.” The award also recognizes Mr. Fu’s contribution to the global energy industry as the leader of Sinopec, and reflects the emergence of China energy industry as a significant driving force behind the development of the global energy industry.

In accepting his award, Mr. Fu said “This is clearly not just my award. It goes to Sinopec's people for their endeavors, and also to China’s energy sector, as it engages ever more deeply with the rest of the world.

Sinopec Group is a huge organization, measured not just by Fortune top ten and over one million employees, but also as the provider of 60% of China’s oil product needs. We now have business engagements in more than 50 countries and regions all over the world, making over \\$10 billion of overseas investments in the past two years, changing the way in which we engage in the world's oil and gas markets.

China's 'go out' policy is active in many sectors, but none more so than in ours. The ‘go out’ strategy is a critical component of China's embrace of international markets and an increasingly global society in which we know we can play a growing part. At every level, Chinese people are engaging with the world like never before - and China’s peaceful, thoughtful, embrace with the world is another reason I am honored to accept this award.

At the same time, we in China are extremely conscious that our fast economic growth - which has brought unparalleled improvements in health and wellbeing for hundreds of millions of our people – has also resulted in an acceleration of global resource pressures. We have to be, we are determined to be, part of the solution to these challenges, particularly climate change and environmental protection.

So tonight's award, and the rest of my time at the helm of Sinopec, is committed to the common goal we must share - of addressing the balance between meeting our growing human needs whilst mitigating our environmental impact. This is perhaps the defining challenge of our age, and I hope we can all commit to addressing it together.”

Looking towards the future, as a forerunner in the UN Global Compact initiative, Sinopec will continue to pursue the new industrialization path of high technology, low resource intensity and less pollution. The Group is well on its way towards building one of the world’s leading energy and chemical companies, and Sinopec is determined to do this in a responsible and sustainable manner that ensures its position as a respected global corporate citizen.