Author Bo Kong reveals how China's international petroleum policy is shaped by the cogovernance of the country's petroleum sector by its government and national oil companies, whose interests are at cross purposes with each other. This exhaustive treatment of China's international petroleum policy examines the cogovernance of China's petroleum sector by its government and national oil companies, as they work at loggerheads with each other to shape such key policies as overseas investment, domestic price caps, and import controls in the face their country's exploding demand for foreign oil. Imported oil already accounts half of China's total consumption and is forecast to increase to 80 percent by 2030. China's International Petroleum Policy focuses on six major issues: the evolution of China's petroleum governance regime, the making of China's international petroleum policy, the international expansion of China's national oil companies, the challenges confronting Chinese oil companies on the international petroleum chessboard, Beijing's petroleum diplomacy, and the implications of China's international petroleum policy. Each chapter describes the historical and institutional context of a particular issue, the key players, and the structures and processes through which policy is developed and implemented.

China has developed sophisticated hedging strategies for managing the international petroleum market, maintaining a favorable energy mix, pursuing overseas equity oil production, building a state-owned tanker fleet and strategic petroleum reserve, establishing cross-border pipelines, and diversifying its energy resources and routes. Though it cannot be “secured,” China’s energy security can be “insured” by marrying government concern with commercial initiatives. This book identifies the interrelationship between security and profit that better describes China’s energy-security policy.

This authoritative book on China's oil demand and government policies and practices rests on two essential foundations: first and foremost on the author's considerable knowledge of China's oil situation and prospects, together with his access to Chinese energy literature and data; and secondly, on that insight afforded to him and, therefore, his readers from his fluency in Chinese.The author analyzes the Chinese oil market and the rising pressure on Beijing to reform policies which constrain China's ability to meet soaring demand and to pay for crucial imports at a time of growing political and economic uncertainties. Dr Wang acknowledges the importance of China meeting its growing domestic oil demand, if at all possible, through national production. The sheer weight of China's population, and its burgeoning requirements as industrialization spreads into most regions, dwarfs the needs of others and places unprecedented strain on international oil trades.The author stresses the fact that the outcome is hard to define, yet the time required to tackle the nation's energy needs is not limitless. Moreover, he reminds the reader of the perennial difficulty in meeting widely disparate economic and energy needs in different regions of the vast country.

. . . a very detailed and fascinating description of the development of China s oil and natural gas industry and an assessment of its prospects. . . certainly a recommended read. Anthony D. Owen, Asia Pacific Journal of Economics and Business . . . this book should be a part of the library of anyone interested in the Chinese energy system. New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies This is a timely and important book to help enhance understanding of China s petroleum industry and to assess China s energy policy in a more sensible way. Janet Xuanli Liao, The China Journal This is a timely volume. Understanding the oil and gas industry that China has at home is an essential prerequisite to understanding Chinese foreign policy and the future role of China in world oil and gas markets. It is certain to be a major one. From the preface by Ron Oxburgh, Lord Oxburgh of Liverpool, (Climate Change Capital) China s rapid economic development is having profound implications for energy resources. China has always been exceptionally reliant on its abundant coal, but consumption of oil and gas have grown rapidly since reform began in the 1980s. In spite of vigorous domestic development most recently in the Tarim Basin China is now consuming approximately 8 per cent of the world s oil output but producing only 4 per cent. China s emergence as an energy importer has given rise to concerns that it is a major contributor to recent turmoil in energy markets. This book examines China s record of oil and gas development, its refining capacity, and energy prospects. The authors conclude that there are no fundamental reasons for anxiety about China s demands on the world energy economy, but they emphasize that its energy future will depend critically on a continuation of reform and internationalization. China and the Global Energy Crisis is a concise but detailed study of these issues. This book will appeal not only to readers concerned with China and energy issues, but also to a wider readership seeking to understand China s development and its global meaning.

China’s rapid economic growth has led to a huge increase in its domestic energy needs. This book provides a critical overview of how China’s growing need for oil imports is shaping its international economic and diplomatic strategy and how this affects global political relations and behaviour. Part One is focused on the domestic drivers of energy policy: it provides a systematic account of recent trends in China’s energy sector and assesses the context and processes of energy policy making, and concludes by showing how and why China’s oil industry has spread across the world in the last fifteen years. Part Two analyses the political and foreign policy implications of this energy-driven expansion and the challenges this potentially poses for China’s integration into the international system. It examines a number of factors linked to this integration in the energy field, including the unpredictabilities of internal policymaking; China’s determination to promote its own critical national interests, and the general ambition of the Chinese leadership to integrate with the international system on its own terms and at its own speed. The highly topical book draws together the various dimensions of China’s international energy strategy, and provides insights into the impact of this on China’s growing international presence in various parts of the world.

Global energy needs are rising inexorably despite soaring prices while petroleum production is struggling to keep pace, as many existing oilfields go into decline and new reserves become rarer and increasingly difficult to exploit. In this tightening supply situation, the world is witnessing a triangular race between United States, China and India to secure their future energy supplies. The United States, already the world’s largest energy consumer and oil importer may be overtaken by China in the coming decades as the latter aggressively seeks new supplies to fuel its phenomenal growth. India, with its burgeoning population is also poised for dramatic economic development and remains heavily dependent on energy imports to bridge the widening gap between modest domestic production and surging demand. Even as the global economic gravity shifts towards Asia, much of the continent’s oil imports will continue to be sourced from the Arabian Gulf, binding major Asian powers ever closer to the region. What are the international implications of this triangular race for energy supplies? Will it lead to strategic cooperation, competition or even conflict between the three countries? How will oil geopolitics and energy security considerations shape the foreign policies of China and India and the United States? How can the Gulf countries meet and capitalize on the energy needs of these three global players? What strategic partnerships will emerge as the Gulf countries perform a delicate balancing act in this critical supply scenario? These and related issues were discussed by energy experts who assembled at the ECSSR Twelfth Annual Energy Conference on China, India and the United States: Competition for Energy Resources held from November 19–21, 2006 in Abu Dhabi. This volume of compiled conference presentations offers global, regional and country-wise perspectives on the international race for energy resources and its wider economic and political ramifications.

China’s rapid economic growth in the recent decades has produced an unprecedented energy vulnerability that could threaten the sustainability of its economic development, a linchpin to social stability and ultimately the regime legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as well as the foundation for China's rising power aspirations. What is the Chinese perception of the energy security and challenges, how has the Chinese government responded to the challenges? What are the international implications of China’s search for energy security? This collection of contributions by leading scholars seeks answers to these extremely important questions. The book is divided into three parts. Part I presents an overview of China’s sense of energy security and its strategic responses. Part II examines China’s energy policy-making processes, the efforts to reform and reorganize the energy sector and reset policy priorities Part III focuses on the international implications of China’s search for energy security. This book consists of articles published in the Journal of Contemporary China.

China's two decades of rapid economic growth have fueled a demand for energy that has outstripped domestic sources of supply. China became a net oil importer in 1993, and the country's dependence on energy imports is expected to continue to grow over the next 20 years, when it is likely to import some 60 percent of its oil and at least 30 percent of its natural gas. China thus is having to abandon its traditional goal of energyself-sufficiency--brought about by a fear of strategic vulnerability--and look abroad for resources. This study looks at the measures that China is taking to achieve energy security and the motivations behind those measures. It considers China's investment in overseas oil exploration and development projects, interest in transnational oil pipelines, plans for a strategic petroleum reserve, expansion of refineries to process crude supplies from the Middle East, development of the natural gas industry, and gradual opening of onshore drilling areas to foreign oil companies. The author concludes that these activities are designed, in part, to reduce the vulnerability of China's energy supply to U.S. power. China's international oil and gas investments, however, are unlikely to bring China theenergy security it desires. China is likely to remain reliant on U.S. protection of the sea-lanes that bring the country most of its energy imports.

China is frequently described as a threat to regional and global stability and its rapidly rising demand for imported energy is seens as one cause of this threat. This book shows that domestic politics and foreign policy have both played a part in China's recent major energy policy decisions. However, China's increasing involvement in the global energy markets can be seen as an opportunity to enhance cooperation and interdependence rather than as a threat.