China on global hunt to quench its thirst for oil

Robert Collier, Chronicle Staff Writer

Sunday, June 26, 2005

Move over, Big Oil. There’s a new oilman on the world stage — China.

China’s takeover bid for Unocal Corp. makes clear to sticker-shocked Americans that the 1.3 billion Chinese people are demanding an ever-larger supply of the world’s energy to fuel their booming economy and are willing to get it wherever necessary.

From Central Asia to Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and even Canada, Chinese firms are pumping oil and natural gas in many areas that the United States was counting on to meet its own record-high demand.

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