These Texas companies have placed huge bets on doing business in China

ENTERPRISE PRODUCTS

Like many pipeline operators, Enterprise is hoping the growing Chinese economy will provide a big market for the huge volumes of American crude the company moves through its terminal on the Houston Ship Channel. Though the trade dispute put a hold on those deals, the country with a population of 1.4 billion is still expected to be a major market for U.S. oil producers in the years ahead.

EXXON MOBIL

The company’s history with China dates to the selling kerosene there in the 1890s. Nowadays, Exxon is selling chemicals and fuels while operating two lubricant plants in southern China and considering spending billions of dollars to build a chemical complex there. The Texas oil major recently completed the expansion of a sprawling research and development facility in Shanghai.

LYONDELLBASELL

In December, the Houston chemical giant announced it had a deal with state-owned Sinopec to build a plant outside Shanghai to produce the chemicals used to make plastic. It is the second venture between the firms, with one Lyondell executive calling China “the fastest-growing market in the world for these products.”

CHENIERE ENERGY

The pioneering liquefied natural gas firm made headlines last year when it struck a tentative $18 billion deal to supply natural gas to state-owned Sinopec for the next two decades. Though that deal might be delayed as China shops around for a better price, Cheniere already has a contract in place to supply the state-owned China National Petroleum Corp.

BP

Though BP’s efforts to drill shale fields in China haven’t work out, the company has plenty of other energy ventures there. Last year, the company announced it was expanding its Chinese jet-fuel business to take advantage of the country’s growing aviation sector. It also recently opened its first retail gasoline station there — complete with electric-vehiclecharging stations.