Patrick Pouyanne, chairman and CEO of France’s Total, was in Beijing recently to sign a strategic cooperation agreement with Wang Yilin, chairman of China National Petroleum Company (CNPC).

“This strategic cooperation agreement reflects our respective commitment to strengthening our partnership and jointly developing new projects,” said Pouyanne.

CNPC and Total have worked together on several occasions over the past 10 years, including on major schemes such as the Sulige gas field in China, Halfaya in Iraq, Yamal LNG (liquefied natural gas) in Russia, Kashagan in Kazakhstan and Libra in Brazil.

“In particular, Total will share with CNPC its expertise in the areas of safety and environment, human resources and social responsibility,” said Pouyanne. ”The agreement further strengthens the existing partnership to support the international strategy of CNPC’s affiliate PetroChina.” 

At the end of 2015, Wang Yilin signed an agreement with Mubadala Investment Company’s CEO Sultan al-Jaber for the two companies to cooperate in oil and gas exploration and production.

As part of increasing cooperation between China and the UAE oil industry, Abu Dhabi set up a new joint venture with CNPC last year to explore and develop oil fields in the emirate.

The new company, Al-Yasat Company for Petroleum Operations, is 60 per cent owned by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) and 40 per cent owned by CNPC Hong Kong.

In February, Iraq announced a deal with state-owned China Petroleum Pipeline (CPP), a subsidiary of CNPC, and other foreign companies to secure investment in the $13bn Common Seawater Supply Project.