Fu Chengyu, chairman of China Petrochemical Corp, or Sinopec Group, received Energy Intelligence Group's "Petroleum Executive of the Year" award in London on Monday, making him the first Chinese entrepreneur to earn the award in 15 years.

The award is given out by Energy Intelligence Group, an independent provider of insight, analysis and data on the global energy industry, in recognition of outstanding leadership from an executive in that industry.

Since assuming the role of chairman of Sinopec in 2011, Fu has used his experience in overseas mergers and acquisitions to modify the company's overseas strategy.

Among the 11 overseas oil and gas mergers and acquisitions completed by Chinese companies last year, Sinopec was involved in five.

An acquisition of the Brazilian deep-water assets from the Portuguese company Galp Energia Group was valued at $5.1 billion, making it the largest Chinese overseas oil and gas acquisition in 2011.

In 2012, Sinopec acquired a third of Devon Energy Corp's stake in five shale projects in the United States.

Over the course of the year, Sinopec announced its intention to acquire a 49-percent stake in the Canada-based Talisman Energy Inc's UK subsidiary. The successful completion of the transaction will allow Sinopec to participate in the exploration of Talisman's 51 North Sea oil and gas fields and further develop its deep-water operation techniques.

Before joining Sinopec, Fu had worked at China National Offshore Oil Corp since 1982, holding the positions of chairman and chief executive officer from 2003 to 2010.