Oil buyers try to kick Mideast dependence
By Nesa Subrahmaniyan Bloomberg News
Published: September 4, 2006
SINGAPORE China Petroleum & Chemical, the nation's biggest refiner, and Nippon Oil of Japan are importing more oil from Africa and Russia in an effort to try to reduce their dependence on Mideast crude.
"Winston Churchill said energy security lies in diversity, and that very much applies today," said Anthony Nunan, an oil trader in Tokyo at Mitsubishi, Japan's largest trading company. "Refiners want to diversify as much as they can, and they are doing it very seriously now."
Angola has overtaken Saudi Arabia as China's largest supplier this year, and Japanese refiners have started buying crude from the Russian Far East. Refined oil from Africa and Russia typically yields more gasoline and diesel than Mideast supplies, making them more attractive in Asia, the world's fastest-growing automobile market.
The trend will benefit companies drilling in Africa and the former Soviet Union, including Exxon Mobil, BP, Total and OAO Lukoil. They have largely been excluded from production in Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East, source of one-third of the world's oil, where state-owned monopolies control the industry.
iht.com |
