Energy is not only an important international commodity but is also an important financial product. Many studies address the global energy structure by considering energy as commodity, but few study it based on energy's financial attributes. In this paper, we analyzed the global energy investment structure based on the shareholding relationships between listed energy companies and their shareholders by taking the frontier approach to complex network theory and treating these relationships as a heterogeneous complex network from a global angle. We constructed a primitive investment network of listed energy companies and their shareholders (two sets of actors). Then, based on the two-mode affiliation relationships between two sets of actors and countries, we constructed a derivative investment network of 112 countries (and regions). By calculating different topological features, we quantitatively analyzed the national diversity of outward and inward energy investment, the energy investment preference, the strength of the bilateral energy investment relationship between countries (and regions) and the most powerful group of energy investing countries based on the shareholding relationships of global listed energy companies. It is found that the vast majority of outward and inward investment relationships are still in the hands of a few countries: traditional developed countries, emerging countries, and a few particular island countries (and regions) that are tax havens. This study is helpful for analyzing the roles and investment relationships of nations as well as the global energy investment structure taking the perspective of the energy stock market. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.