Chinese oil companies have been on a global shopping spree—especially in the rejuvenated North American oil industry. Since 2008, the companies have spent $44.2 billion to acquire U.S. and Canadian energy firms as well as oil and gas fields, according to merger-tracking firm Dealogic. That is more than these large, state-owned Chinese companies spent in Africa, Latin America, Europe or any other part of the world. Chinese companies have bought interests in U.S. shale ventures controlled by U.S. and European companies, acquired considerable properties in Canada’s gigantic oil-sands deposits and picked up some conventional oil and gas wells. The Chinese companies have been very quiet about the strategies behind their purchases, and their representatives in North America didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment. But experts say the Chinese are interested in Western technology advances, seek large-scale oil and natural-gas assets and may want to reduce China’s dependence on […]