China is Scouring the Globe to Quench Thirst for Oil
The BBC writes:
The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that in the next five years almost half of global oil demand growth will come from China.
Rising demand for oil and significant cash reserves have led Chinese energy firms to buy into foreign oil reserves.
“We are pleased to expand our presence in the oil sands business,” said CNOOC chief executive, Yang Hua.
In 2005 the firm bought a 17% stake in Canadian oil sands firm MEG Energy. CNOOC has also obtained minority stakes in oil projects in Texas and Colorado.
CNOOC is not the only Chinese state oil firm investing in the region.
In 2009 PetroChina bought a $1.7bn share in Athabasca Oil Sands, and Last year Sinopec paid $4.6bn for a 9% share of Syncrude, Canada’s largest oil sands producer.
The IEA estimates that by the end of 2010 Chinese state energy companies operated in 31 nations and held shares in oil firms in 20 of those countries.