Yang Hua was appointed as chairman of the board and chairman of the nomination committee at China’s CNOOC Ltd., the company said May 19. Wang Yilin resigned as chairman of the board, chairman of the nomination committee and non-executive director, the company added. Yang is no longer vice chairman of the CNOOC’s board, the company said, noting that Yang’s appointment and Wang’s resignation are effective immediately.

Most recently, Yang was director and president of CNOOC from August 2011 to April 2015. He became chairman in April. He is also chairman and director of CNOOC China Ltd. and CNOOC International Ltd. He also worked at other CNOOC subsidiaries, the company added.

From 1993 to 1999, Yang was deputy chief geologist, the deputy director and the acting director for the overseas development department, and CNOOC International Ltd.’s vice president.

From 1999 to 2011, Yang’s roles included senior vice president, executive vice president, president, CFO and CEO. Yang also was an assistant president from 2006 to 2010, and vice president of CNOOC from 2010 to 2011.

Yang joined CNOOC in 1982 and has more than 30 years’ experience in petroleum E&P. From 1982 to 1992, Yang worked in CNOOC’s research center, and his roles included director of the field development department, manager of the reservoir engineering department and the project manager, the state-owned company said.

Yang also worked in international business, M&A, corporate finance and capital markets for CNOOC and its subsidiaries.

Yang, a senior engineer, has a bachelor’s degree from China University of Petroleum. He also has a master’s of business administration degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management, and was a Sloan Fellow.