Financial Energy Review
by Musa Ibrahim.,……………….
Nigeria’s energy sector is about to receive a major boost from huge
investment decisions from China, which is eyeing key exploration
operations in the oil and gas sector in Africa.
According to a Modern Diplomacy report, China has a whopping USD$15
billion worth of investments planned in Africa’s oil sector.
This massive price tag is split between three major players out of
China: China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), China Petroleum &
Chemical Corporation (SINOPEC) and China National Offshore Oil
(CNOOC).
Africa, which suffers from a staggering US$50 billion per annum
investment gap in its energy sector, is in many ways a wide open
playing field for energy- and power-hungry Beijing.
Ostensibly, it is for this reason that Beijing is pouring considerably
more cash into the African continent’s energy sector than into its
other energy investment projects in the Americas, according to
OilPrice.Com
About two thirds of the huge spending is in Nigeria, says the report.
China will also spend considerable fund innAngola, Uganda and Mozambique.
SINOPEC and CNOOC are well-established in Nigeria and Angola, while
CNPC has a stake in the Rovuma LNG project in Mozambiqu”. Overall,
China has significantly ramped up its presence in nearly 20 African
countries.
As China exponentially increases its presence in global energy
markets, some pundits believe that the United States could be headed
into an “energy export battle with China”.
The United States will likely fight hard to retain its dangerously
dwindling market sector for shale exports while China invests massive
amounts of cash into its own energy infrastructure domestically and
abroad.
While China’s appetite for energy is guaranteed to keep growing, it’s
clear that President Xi will do all he can to make sure that China
weans itself off of dependency on imports from countries like the
United States.
China’s President Xi’s global infrastructure development program
entails hefty Chinese-led investment in as many as 70 countries and
international organizations around the world.
China’s move into global energy markets is diverse and widespread,
from nuclear to coal to renewable energies. Beijing’s geopolitical
efforts have been particularly pronounced in Africa, a largely
untapped market for energy infrastructure development and demand
growth that Beijing is quite keen to dominate.
In fact, China has been battling it out with Russia in recent months
to establish dominance in the continent’s nascent nuclear sector.
While China is working to develop itself as a nuclear power in Africa,
a renewable energy power for its own energy security and a coal power
overseas thereby endangering global climate goals while keepings its
own emissions numbers relatively low), Beijing is also aggressively
trying to move into oil and gas markets.
This initiative, too, is focused on Africa.
The Modern Diplomacy reported that “China’s national oil companies are
investing heavily in the exploration and production of oil and gas
supplies in Africa,” remarking that the continent is the “second
largest region in supplying oil and gas to China, after the Middle
East, with over 25 per cent of its total imported oil and gas.”
China’s appetite for oil is nearly insatiable, and the nation has
quickly risen through the ranks to become the largest importer of
black gold in the world for two years in a row.
