The Chinese Petroleum Industry : Global Implications

Abstract

The Chinese oil industry was relatively unknown to most westerners, veiled behind the bamboo curtain, until the early 1990's when nationalized Chinese petroleum companies started selling off stock in their companies to international investors. In December of 2001 China joined the World Trade Organization. Since then there has been an explosion of investment in all areas of trade, and the petroleum markets are no exception. China's once hidden and largely undeveloped Petroleum Industry is probably now the fastest growing industry in the world. There are no "recent" book publications on the subject that are current and up to date and address China's completion of her first year in 2002 as a member of the World Trade Organization. Most current facts can be found in English printed Chinese newspapers, international oil companies annual performance documents and web sites, stock market listings, the US government and other sources. This paper will present an overview of some of the emerging statistics about the Chinese Petroleum industry, its companies and what implications these may have for the rest of the world.