Chinese state-owned oil firms head into uncharted waters
BEIJING | By H.Kaixi, W. Xiaobing and Y. Ning via Caixin | Since February, state-owned oil majors have taken steps toward pilots in mixed-share ownership, following central government calls for reforms to state-owned enterprises (SOEs). In a previous round of SOE reforms launched in 1998, the top three oil majors, CNPC, Sinopec and China National Offshore Oil Co. (CNOOC) underwent asset restructurings and went public abroad. But shortly thereafter reforms came to a halt. The competition that policymakers wanted to bring about never happened.