The Chinese state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation stated on August 12 that it plans to accelerate acquisition of oil and gas assets in Latin America and Africa. CNPC executives were quoted as stating that the “relatively low prices of foreign assets” offered unprecedented opportunities for ensuring China’s energy security. Dow Jones-Efe reported that CNPC and China’s No. 3 oil company, CNOOC, together offered $17 billion for Repsol’s 84 percent stake in the Argentina-based YPF. While CNPC and CNOOC refused comments on any possible deal, the deputy chairman of China’s powerful National Reform and Development Commission, Zhang Guobao, indicated in July that the acquisition was being actively discussed.

Reports noted that the global oil slump was giving CNPC a chance to expand its oil reserves at a comparatively low cost, in the light of China’s growing dependence on imported crude. It is expected that by 2020, China will be importing nearly 65 per cent of its energy needs. China is currently the world’s second-biggest energy consumer after the United States. Most of China’s oil imports are currently source from the Middle East, Africa and East Asia1.

• 1. “China Oil Giant Hunting for Assets in Latin America, Africa,” Herald Tribune, August 18, 2009, at http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=341290&CategoryId=13280