NewChinese oil majors announce top management reshuffle
Leadership changes at big three state-owned firms could speed industry reform, say analysts
China has announced a reshuffle of top leaders at the country's big three state-owned oil and gas firms, a move analysts said could speed up reform of their operations and governance and restructuring of assets to improve efficiency.
China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), the parent of listed PetroChina, said its chairman, Zhou Jiping, had stepped down after reaching retirement age, and China National Offshore Oil Corp's chairman Wang Yilin had been appointed by Beijing to assume his position, confirming a report by the South China Morning Post on Saturday.
Rival China Petrochemical Corp, parent of listed China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec), said its chairman, Fu Chengyu, had also stepped down after reaching retirement age, and Chinese Academy of Engineering deputy chief Wang Yupu, a former CNPC veteran, had been appointed by Beijing to succeed him.
China National Offshore's Wang Yilin had been succeeded by company president Yang Hua, the company said.
"The wholesale management change will create an environment where the government can accelerate reform within the industry," Sanford C Bernstein senior analyst Neil Beveridge said. "The industry needs massive reform as returns hit the lowest levels since the state giants' stock market listings and weak corporate governance has been exposed by a slew of corruption probes."
Late last month, China Petrochemical's former president Wang Tianpu became the latest top-level manager in the oil sector to be put under investigation for graft, just over a month after CNPC's former general manager Liao Yongyuan and China National Offshore's former vice-general manager Wu Zhenfang became the subject of corruption investigations.