"China scrambles to secure oil to meet demand"

SINGAPORE: China is scouring the world to secure more crude oil after record imports this year to fuel its projected strong but moderating economic growth in 2005, oil officials and analysts say.

Chinese state oil traders forecast a rise of up to 20 percent, or more than 400,000 barrels per day (bpd), on top of the 2.5 million bpd it is buying now. "We are hard pressed to fill that up from different sources," said a trader with Sinopec Corp, Asia's largest refiner.

The Beijing-controlled state oil company is touting a new crude procurement strategy under the slogan: "Stabilising supply from the Middle East, develop Africa and explore the Caspian and neighbouring regions." "China is getting into a global grasp, working up the whole world," said Al Troner, president of Seattle-based Asia Pacific Energy Consulting Inc.

Full Article : dailytimes.com.pk