Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC), the UAE’s main state oil firm, announced late February that it has awarded a combined 12% stake in a mega onshore venture to two Chinese companies, CEFC China Energy Co. and China National Petroleum Corp.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. has awarded 4% stake in the venture to CEFC China Energy Co. (CEFC). For the deal, CEFC, which is based in Shanghai, is said to be paying a $888m signature bonus, ejinsight informed.

Additionally, China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) had also agreed to buy 8% of the same concession for $1.8b, which turned Chinese companies into the big winners in the competition among foreign bidders for stakes in Abu Dhabi’s largest oil concession, The Business Times reported.

Together, the stakes held by CNPC and CEFC exceed the 10% shares that global energy giants BP and Total own in the venture.

Abu Dhabi is among Persian Gulf oil producers, including Saudi Arabia and Iraq, that are tapping Asia for energy investments. While European and US companies have pumped oil in the Middle East for more than a century, their Asian counterparts are relative newcomers. Japanese and Korean companies are also investors with ADNOC in the deposits.