Eni, the world’s No.7 listed oil company in terms of output, is mainly focused on Africa, Russia and Kazakhstan for upstream activity, with growing operations also in Latin America.

As part of a wide-ranging memorandum of understanding, Eni said it would use its expertise in shale gas in North America to develop opportunities in similar resources owned by PetroChina in China.

China accounts for less than 1 percent of Eni’s output.

The two groups will also study joint opportunities to expand operations in conventional and unconventional hydrocarbons in Africa, Eni said in a statement on Friday.

PetroChina is the biggest oil and gas producer in energy-hungry China, the world’s biggest oil user after the United States.

China, which looks poised to raise its total crude imports at double-digit pace this year, has been raising imports from Saudi Arabia, West Africa’s Angola and more recently, Latin American suppliers Venezuela and Brazil.

“Forging ties with national oil companies with a value chain is definitely the way forward for international oil companies as we saw with BP and Rosneft,” ING oil analyst Jason Kenney said.

In January Russia’s state-controlled Rosneft agreed an Arctic exploration tie-up with BP.

Eni has forged strong ties with Russian gas giant Gazprom for joint operations in Russia and elsewhere.

PetroChina, the world’s second-biggest oil company by market capitalization, will also consider the acquisition of stakes in certain assets owned by Eni, Eni said.

Eni is one of the most leveraged of Europe’s oil majors and has tabled the sale of a series of assets to help reduce debt.