home > by publication type > must reads > China Security: The Fact and Fiction of Sino-African Energy Relations
Email
| Author: | Erica Strecker Downs |
|---|
July 1, 2007
Summary:
This article examines a number of widely accepted "facts" about the growing involvement of China's NOCs in Africa. While some of these have some validity, others simply do not. Contrary to public opinion, China's NOCs are not "lock-ing up" the lion's share of African oil as part of a centralized quest for energy. In addition, the extent to which the Chinese NOCs' involvement in the African oil patch has contributed to the erosion of the "rules of the game" - established by Western governments and international financial institutions for foreign investment, foreign aid and human rights - may be exaggerated in some cases.
Excerpt:
"China's oil companies are 'locking out' Western oil companies from Africa."
No, China's oil companies are relatively small players in Africa. The
tendency of many analysts is to simply list the wide swathe of African countries in which China's NOCs have acquired assets and conclude that China is winning the race for oil exploration and production on the continent (see Table 1). The reality, however, is quite different. While China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) dominates the oil sector in Sudan, China's NOCs currently are minor actors among the foreign investors in Africa's largest reserve holders, including Libya, Nigeria, Algeria and Angola (see Figure 1). With the exception of a handful
of projects in Sudan (Heglig and Unity fi elds), Nigeria (Akpo fi eld), and Angola (Greater Plutonio fi elds), most of the African assets held by China's NOCs are of a size and quality of little interest to international oil companies (IOCs). In fact, many of these assets were relinquished by the IOCs.
To order Task Force reports, Council Special Reports, and Critical Policy Choices, please call, fax, or order online from our distributor, the Brookings Institution Press: phone +1.800.537.5487, fax +1.410.516.6998.
For information on other reports that are not for sale, or for general publications information, please call +1.212.434.9516 or email publications@cfr.org.
Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies— produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? With the insights of geopolitical experts and investors, the authors examine this nation’s adversity-driven culture to answer this question and offer prescriptions for a global economy on the rebound.
In Forces of Fortune, Vali Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world—a new business-minded middle class—that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba's unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
Complete list of CFR Books
Copyright 2009 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.