China will lead India in the 2008 energy race

The energy race between China and India will be more intense in 2008 when both sides travel around the world to find fuel for their booming economy. In this " billionaire, " Beijing is leading a step ahead, analysts said.

China, with its big pockets and dynamic diplomacy, has beaten bureaucratic, sluggish India in its quest for long-term fuel supplies in Asia, Africa and Latin America, analysts say. .

"The Chinese are more dominant than the Indians, wherever they are, Myanmar, Sudan or Indonesia, the Chinese are always ahead," said Rahul Bedi, an Indian analyst for weekly defense magazine Jane. to speak. "However, India is accelerating their pace."

In early December, China defeated India to become a preferred contractor for the project in Myanmar by Daewoo, South Korea after Beijing announced it would spend $ 1.1 billion on gas pipelines. .

(Photo: AFP) "Chinese are more aggressive, faster," said Victor Shum, an analyst with Singapore-based Purvin & Gertz Petroleum Consulting.

China's assertiveness comes from their massive industrial base, which desperately needs fuel to produce everything, from fertilizer to mobile phones."China produces a variety of goods for the world and they need energy to do that," said He Jun, an analyst at Beijing-based Anbound Energy Consulting. "It is a non-stop trend."

China has to import half of the oil needed, consuming 7.16 million barrels of oil a day last year. China's demand will be higher than US demand after 2010, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said.

India's energy demand has also increased rapidly but is still far below China because of its service-oriented economy. India, which imports 70% of its oil on demand, consumes only 2.45 million barrels of oil a day.

China's thirst for oil is partly due to oil prices rising to nearly $ 100 a barrel."Since 2002, China's oil demand has increased by 5-10% a year while India's demand is just an abnormal increase , " said Dave Ernsberger, Platts Asia Oil Company director.

Due to the political structure, the Oil and Natural Gas Group (ONGC), a company under India's state management, is more difficult than Chinese companies in investment projects.

Faced with opposition from some opposition parties, India must ignore a landmark treaty with the United States to bring New Delhi to the civilian nuclear market. At the same time, Washington - which suspected Iran's nuclear program - was not very excited about plans to participate in the construction of a gas pipeline from Iran to India through Pakistan. This project is delayed by technical factors and price arguments.

China has more money than India. State-owned company CNPC, China's key oil producer, invested $ 45 billion in new energy sources while ONGC spent $ 3.5 billion in a five-year period, by 2005. .

In 2005, India announced that the country hoped to move from competition to establishing an alliance with China, but this effort failed due to old suspicions between the two sides.

China has increased its presence in Central Asia and targeted rich Russia - India's Cold War ally.

India, which holds a 20% stake in Russia's Sakhalin-1 gas field, said new oil and gas deals between India and Russia will be "solidified in February." However, the warming relationship between New Delhi and Washington has recently cast a shadow on its relationship with Russia.

Recently, India began studying China, strengthening relations with African countries, promoting trade and defense relations. In return, ONGC gained mining rights in Sudan and Nigeria alongside Libya, Algeria, Egypt since 2004. In October this year, Manmohan Singh was the first Indian Prime Minister in 45 years to visit the exporting country. Top oil is Nigeria.

However, China has appeared in Africa before. The country builds roads, railway systems and petrochemical facilities. Chinese President Hu Jintao visited earlier this year in Africa, his third visit in less than three years.

Hoai Linh