OPEC Oil: China has a plan. We don’t.

America depends on a number of OPEC countries for oil that don’t have our best interests at heart. Countries like Venezuela, Nigeria, and Angola are either from unstable regions or actively adversarial to American interests. Oil prices have become more volatile than ever making oil a very dangerous addiction from a national security standpoint. We cannot allow OPEC nations to control our security, environmental, and economic future.

Moreover, securing long term supplies of foreign oil will never be as easy it has been in the past. There’s stiff competition for oil in the global marketplace, and China is beating us at this game.

Since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, China has aggressively sought to secure oil resources for its growing economy. With their once lucrative oil contracts voided by the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, the Chinese used lower oil prices during the global recession to embark on a resource grab of epic proportions. Maximizing the collective strength of China’s banking institutions and the diplomatic resources of the Chinese government, China’s state owned oil companies are positioning themselves to control a substantial amount of the oil produced in Africa, Asia and South America.

Whether through preferential bank loans to ailing countries or major investments in international oil companies on the open market, one thing has become clear: China is making sure that they have the oil they need in this limited resource market.

Did you know that …

• China has committed to Exploration, Production and Petroleum Infrastructure Construction in over 24 countries, some whom are unfriendly to the US?
• Since 2007, China has spent approximately $236 Billion on oil purchase and “Loan for Energy” Deals to secure future Oil Production?
• These contracts have the potential to deliver over 7.8 Billion Barrels of Oil to China?
• China has bid to purchase or bought large shares of stakes in over 22 International Oil Exploration and Production companies.
• Of the 17 million barrels of oil that flow from the Middle East through the Strait of Hormuz the U.S. gets only about 10 percent – the rest goes to China and other nations. Yet, we pay 100 percent of the costs of protecting that oil.