China at Center of Shifts in Energy Trade Patterns

Energy analysts meeting at a Washington forum Wednesday discussed the shifting pattern of energy supply and consumption with particular reference to new pipelines likely to be built to get Central Asian oil and gas to world markets.

Former oil company executive Frank Verrastro of Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies says energy trade patterns are in flux, as China and India emerge as major importers. “We’ve got pockets of producers and pockets of consumers that are not geographically co-located. And you can name the producers on one hand: it is Russia and the Caspian, the Middle East, Africa, and the non-conventional production in North and South America, mostly Canada and Venezuela. When you look at the consumption side it is North America, Europe and Asia. And this puts increasingly pressure on the delivery system,” he said.

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