As the vision of extracting oil and gas from previously impenetrable North American shale rock began to take shape in 2008 and 2009, moneyed interest across the globe began to accrue. And perhaps none were so eager to tackle the technology and the rewards as those in power at Chinese state-owned energy companies.

Between 2009 and 2013, the Chinese national companies China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), Sinopec and Sinochem launched more than $8.6 billion in the United States transactions. The last deal between a U.S. company and a Chinese company was in early 2013, Foster Mellen, a senior strategic industry analyst at the Ernst & Young Oil & Gas Center, told Rigzone. Most of those deals involved a Chinese national oil company (NOC) buying into an existing development, often as a joint venture partner.

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