The other day, I was chatting with one of China’s oil and gas people-let’s call him Ooh Hyun-who was at pains to tell me (and the world we watch) that his country does not deserve the bad press it gets these days.
In fact, sitting on a verandah overlooking the port of Hainan, one of his country’s leading gateways for the import of oil and natural gas, Ooh raised his hands in a gesture that could be interpreted as one of despair.
“I find it hard to understand why people are not talking about those countries with a high level of consumption and imports threatening the world’s oil security but who say, on the contrary, that our low level of consumption and imports is a threat to world energy security,” he said. “This is not fair. China is not only not a threat to energy security, but is a positive factor in safeguarding world energy security.”
No threat
Ooh insisted that China poses no threat because it has traditionally been able to meet 90% of its own energy needs.
In fact, he said, China imported 100 kg/person of oil in 2005, while Japan imported 20 times as much in the same year.
Not only does China import less than other countries on a per-capita basis, it also consumes less, Ooh said. Per-capita oil consumption in Japan is about eight times higher than in China, he said.
To Ooh’s obvious embarrassment, I mentioned security problems over oil and gas between his country and Japan in disputed waters of the East China Sea.
Ooh recovered and shrugged. “You see?” he said. “Your observation just proves my point. It’s those energy-hungry Japanese who are the ones causing the problems in the East China Sea. Not us.”
I was not sure how to reply to that since Japan a week before-in a bid to break the stalemate with China over joint development of gas fields in the area-proposed launching a project that would cover a broad area of the East China Sea and encompass the contested demarcation line between the two nations.
Talks sought
If China agrees to the proposal, Japan would offer to pay for a drilling facility already constructed by the Chinese.
Japan hopes to enter talks with China over such details as the selection of companies that will carry out drilling, natural gas allocations, as well as resource management and cost-sharing.
But China has yet to respond to Japan’s proposal. It has indicated a willingness to pursue joint development on the eastern side-the Japanese side-of the existing median line but has said it seeks to go it alone on the western side.
Ooh agreed with his country’s position, citing a famed literary man in support: “East is East and West is West.”