CNOOC chairman steps down, leadership vacuum looms at offshore giant
Lack of a clear successor highlights uncertainty and secrecy that often surround leadership changes in China’s state-owned oil firms
Wang Dongjin has stepped down as chairman of China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and its listed unit, CNOOC Ltd, marking the end of a decades-long career in China’s oil and gas sector.
His profile has been removed from the leadership pages of CNOOC’s website, although he remains listed as a non-executive director of CNOOC Ltd.
One source said Wang completed the transition of responsibilities after government auditors reviewed his financial record during his tenure at both entities.
Another source with direct knowledge of the matter said CNOOC internally announced Wang’s retirement on 10 April.
Wang’s departure is part of a broader generational transition at the top of China’s state-owned oil companies.
He is the first of the three senior executive to step down this year. The other two are Sinopec chairman, Ma Yongsheng, aged 64 and the 62-year-old PetroChina chairman, Dai Houliang.
While the official retirement age for senior executives in China is 60, select leaders have been permitted to remain beyond that age.
Attention has now turned to who will succeed Wang. No appointment has been confirmed, but Zhou Xinhua, 54, CNOOC Group’s current president and chief executive of CNOOC Ltd, is viewed by observers as a strong internal contender.
Zhou currently heads the management list on CNOOC’s website and is ranked first among three executive directors at CNOOC Ltd.
Sources said Zhou is temporarily acting in Wang’s former role but Beijing could yet appoint a figure from outside the company, given the often opaque nature of China’s executive selection process.
Two outsiders said to be under consideration are Zhao Dong, president of Sinopec, and Zhang Wei, chairman of the national oil and gas pipeline operator PipeChina.
Zhao is a senior accountant, with extensive leadership experience in Sinopec since 2016. Meanwhile, Zhang has held senior posts at Sinochem and PetroChina before taking the helm at PipeChina six years ago.
The retiring Wang in 1982 graduated from the East China Petroleum Institute and later earned a doctorate in petroleum engineering management from China University of Petroleum (Beijing). He held senior leadership positions at China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), playing a key role in its international expansion into Sudan and Kazakhstan in the 1990s and early 2000s.
He joined CNOOC in 2018 as a director and deputy party secretary, and became chairman in October 2019 — a post he held until his retirement this month.