In the most recent Martenson Report, I laid the foundation for understanding that China may be on an aggressive policy of resource acquisition tuned to the reality of depletion.
Here are a couple of very interesting ideas and news items that have come out. The first is that the US government is now publicly concerned that China may be trying to “lock up” oil reserves. I find this somewhat humorous because this message is conveyed without the slightest trace of irony. This, of course, has been the US’s own policy for a very long time.
US raises concern over China oil policy
Thursday, 14 January, 2010, 01:04 GMT
“We are pursuing intensive dialogue with the Chinese on the subject of energy security, in which we have raised our concerns about Chinese efforts to lock up oil reserves with long-term contracts,” David Shear, deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, told the House Armed Services Committee yesterday.
“We will continue to engage them on this subject at very senior levels,” he told the panel, which was holding a hearing on recent security developments in China.
Shear was responding to questions by Republican Roscoe Bartlett, who said he was worried that the Chinese were “aggressively buying up oil all over the world” and might not share it with other countries in the future.
China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer, has been pressing ahead with efforts to secure long-term access to natural resources such as oil and minerals to help fuel its rapid economic growth.
China has been encouraging state-owned oil companies to expand upstream investments abroad and to increase crude stockpiles.
China’s oil companies have been snapping up energy assets all over the world, including stakes in Canadian oil sands projects, an oilfield in Iraq, and buying the Swiss oil explore Addax Petroleum, reported Reuters.
Reading between the lines, we can presume that if the US is concerned that China “might not share” its purchased oil with the world, then somebody, somewhere has looked at the supply issue and is worried that there isn’t enough.
For those who aren’t familiar with Roscoe Bartlett, he represents the sixth district of Maryland in Congress, he’s scientifically trained, and he’s been trying to introduce the concept of Peak Oil to Congress for a very long time. It is with a mixture of hope and sadness that I’ve viewed him delivering a brilliant assessment of Peak Oil to virtually empty congressional chambers.
by docmims