(Yicai Global) July 16 -- The former deputy general manager of China National Petroleum Corp. has returned to the country’s biggest oil major in the post of general manager after two years getting the newly-formed China Oil and Gas Piping Network, a key entity in the reform of China’s oil and gas system, on its feet.

55-year-old Hou Qijin, who has had a 30-year-career at China National Petroleum rising to the ranks of deputy GM, will return as GM, the Beijing-based company said yesterday. He replaces Li Fanrong who left in April to lead Sinochem Holdings, the biggest chemicals company in the world formed through the recent merger of industrial giants Sinochem Group and ChemChina.

China Oil and Gas, also known as PipeChina, was set up in 2019 to help streamline and promote the development of the country’s energy infrastructure. The mammoth task involved consolidating the oil and gas pipeline assets of the three state-owned oil and gas giants, namely PetroChina under the CNPC, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation and China National Offshore Oil Corporation.

Hou’s successor as director and GM of PipeChina has not yet been named.

Editor: Kim Taylor