Hu’s Saudi visit to cement strategic oil ties

Chinese President Hu Jintao kicks off his first global tour of 2009 in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, underlining the strategic importance to import-dependent Beijing of long-term ties with the world’s top energy exporter.

Sliding oil prices and the international financial crisis have taken the focus off world crude supplies since Hu’s last visit to the desert kingdom three years ago.
But China’s relationship with its top supplier of oil has been little changed by the upheaval.

Producer nation power is waning, but Riyadh and Beijing are focused on long-term deals to match huge Saudi reserves to thirsty Chinese markets.

“Both of those two players had fairly extreme positions of strength, but I think despite changes in the markets their relative strength hasn’t changed much,” said Jeff Brown, chief economist at the FACTS Global Energy Group.

Reuters