China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) is a state-owned oil and gas company. The company operates in a number of areas, with business covering petroleum exploration & production, natural gas & pipelines, refining & marketing, oilfield services and more. Headquartered in Beijing, the company has a presence in almost 70 countries, with joint venture refineries in Sudan, Kazakhstan, Algeria, Chad, and Niger. It was founded in 1955 and currently has more than 30,000 employees.