China is pouring another $7bn (£4.4bn) into Brazil's oil industry, reigniting fears of a global "land grab" of natural resources.
State-owned Sinopec clinched the deal with Spain's Repsol yesterday to buy 40 per cent of its Brazilian business, giving China's largest oil company access to Repsol Brasil's estimated reserves of 1.2 billion barrels of oil and gas. The whopping price tag for Repsol Brasil – which values the company at nearly twice previous estimates – is a sign of China's willingness to pay whatever it takes to lock in its future energy supplies and avoid social unrest. It will give the company enough cash to develop all its current oil projects, including two fields in the Santos Basin.
The Repsol deal is not China's first in Brazil. In February last year, Sinopec stumped up a $10bn loan to Petrobras, the state-owned oil company, in return for guaranteed supplies of 10,000 barrels of oil every day for the next 10 years.
It also follows a slew of similar deals across the world. While much of the developed world is baulking at its debts in the aftermath of the financial crisis, China has continued a global spending spree of unprecedented proportions, snapping up everything from oil and gas reserves to mining concessions to agricultural land, with vast reserves of US dollars.
This year alone, Chinese companies have laid out billions of dollars buying up stakes in Canada's oil sands, a Guinean iron ore mine, oil fields in Angola and Uganda, an Argentinian oil company and a major Australian coal-bed methane gas company.
China has 1.3 billion people. They need all the natural resources they can get. Average Chinese workers is about $35 a week versus American's weekly salary of about $520. Chinese living wage is similar to Afghanistan.
ReplyDeleteIf they would tap into the shale reserves out in Colorado we would have enough oil for a LONG time, but thanks to the f'ing tree huggers and special interest assholes it won't happen........yet
ReplyDelete3.45
ReplyDeleteYes ,Capitalist cheap labor China has a long way to go to get everyday economic security and ensure future resource supply for its people and industries..
The difference between China and the earlier developed first world is that they -note well-actualy pay cash.
They claim not to get involved in the local politics but onlytrade and invest for mutual advantages for economic development.
Not by imposing "lfestyles".
They ,have not yet turned to colonialism or plundering resource wars and engage in puppet creating widespread "regime changes" ,like the Americans do in iraq and Afghanistan.
America and its military is now hated throughout the world for its selfishness .
While Great goodwill exists for China.
The rich elite in China ,are as in America a problem collecting the bulk of the wealth in their own hands .
Their economy is not as strong as it appears on the surface. economic developement was driven by foreign investment in their industries in order to create an export of commodity wealth/profit economy.
The world financial crisis hit employment hard.
But, the government with huge foreign currency reserves was able to spent massively on stimulus .
The americans could only turn to the printing press.
The recovering economy in china and export industries and jobs are being threatened by currency and trade war protectionism.Paruicularly by America attempting to export the costs of its economic implosion.
Only little improvement in living standards and incomes are trickling down to the majority of ordinary Chinese people.
The environment is being turned into an environmental nightmare in the rush for profits.
But the Chinese have a very recent revolutionary history and may solve those problem by a return to a more socialist economy by another economic and Cultural Revolution.
whether we like it or not ,the ghost of Mao still lurks in China.
The Maoist policy was after all "put politics ' that "serve the people" not profits for the elite "in command" for economic development.
In contrast the once economicaly progressive Americans are going backwards in providing economic security and economic development for their people .
As it is impossible in 'free trade"for capital to make profits in high waged ,fat , individualist greed culturaly degenerate ,sex scandal obsessed America .
America is still in the process of de-industrialization and outsourcing jobs .
Tens of millions of Americans are as a result now debt ridden ,living on food stamps and joining the ranks of the unemployed.
The kleptomaniac bailed out capitalist elite promotes internal class division and war in America in the corporate state owned MSM.
The elites solution to the problems of an insolvant america is socialisation of past losses and bailouts . To solve debt problems by creatingmore Public debt!
Others think america will be righted and get the return of own once prosperous living standards ,not by rebuilding industry, but by attacks on its illegal workers ,unemployed and welfare recipients.
A very strange and confused people.
"Wow 3:45! That was a ringing endorsement for the country that kills millions of their citizens every year. Are you Chinese, a communist or a paid shill?"
ReplyDeleteAs usual.
Americans confronted with any inconvenient, to their ideological conditioning analysis and facts , attempt to change the subject and resort to personal attacks the only way they can defend their own sweet system and assert that anybody thinking different from them must be a paid agent endorsing an evil system that 'kills millions of their citizens every year".
Americas Big Brother is no doubt very proud of you for engaging in your required 2 minutes of hate session in defendin Truth ,Justice and the American way.
The 3.45 comment actualy says:
"Only little improvement in living standards and incomes are trickling down to the majority of ordinary Chinese people.
The environment is being turned into an environmental nightmare in the rush for profits."
Hardly a ringing endorsment of Chinese export of wealth capitalism.
It's a good thing our gov't has banned drilling in ANWR,locking up midwest gov't land and closed the gulf. We have to save the oil for the chinamen. For he is going to want repayment soon.
ReplyDelete7.06
ReplyDeleteMaybe so.
But ,Perhaps more realisticaly
it is using "environmental concerns" to
save its oil for itself, for the future ,when the cheaper so called 'peak oil" supply from the third world runs out?
Never mind ,you think at America should keep its monopoly over the gulf and exploit it right now.thinking you will get cheaper petrol.
But ,under the dollar hegemony system the oil monopolies price world oil In US dollars .
They do not have discounts for Americans no matter where the oil comes from.
British Petroleum is no doubt keen to stay in on the Gulf oil game too , especialy as it too is part of the pricing of oil in dollars monopoly set up.
So ,you can dream but you would not get cheaper petrol anyway!
In the meantime ,America gets most of its oil by supporting and propping up in power kleptomaniac local elites.
Like from its own favorite Muslim "good Guys" the Saudi Royal family ruling a theocratic Wahabi state ,of true womens libbers.
A family that treats the Saudi oil as a lootable family ,not a national asset, because it is backed up and kept in power by the US military.
Another favorite and big source for US oil is Nigeria ,where a klepto-maniac puppet elite is kept in 'democratic" power by the West, so the western oil companies can loot the oil cheaply without any real concern for the living environment of ordinary poverty stricken Nigerians.As long as a cut in the profits is got by the klepto- maniac local bought off puppets.