Just when it looked like Sino-American relations were finally starting to improve, new satellite images last week showed troubling developments. China has been building artificial islands on reefs in the Spratly islands in the South China Sea at an alarming pace. Not that this would be alarming news per se, but the reefs have been,… Keep reading →
Speculation is in the air, but it’s not on Wall Street or at some commodity trader’s desk at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. It comes from China. Earlier this week, both foreign and domestic media reported that two of China’s national oil companies (NOCs), Sinopec and PetroChina, (the country’s two largest oil exploration companies) could merge.… Keep reading →
In 2008, as Beijing geared up for the summer Olympics by stockpiling crude oil, the world blamed the Communist government for inflating prices. Now eyes are back on China, wondering if demand from the Asian nation will bolster falling crude prices. With oil prices falling to their lowest level in years, the Chinese are taking… Keep reading →
First, BP dropped plans to invest in a refinery in Qinzhou. Then PetroChina delayed plans for it’s Kunming refinery, part of a larger plan that includes a pipeline linking Southwestern China to the Bay of Benegal through Myanmar (bypassing the Malacca Straits). Now, two of the largest Chinese national oil companies (NOCs) are paring back… Keep reading →
