Zambia: Striking The Dragon
October 23rd, 2011
Courtesy of The Financial Times, an interesting article on recent strikes at Chinese-owned mines in Zambia. As the report notes: Zambia, the landlocked country in southern Africa that is the continent’s biggest copper producer, has been in the headlines a lot since new President Michael Sata won elections last month. Among other things, the country […]
Read more »The Geopolitics of Oil Refining: China’s Entry into a Venezuelan-Brazilian Oil Deal
October 21st, 2011
Courtesy of STRATFOR (subscription required), a report on China’s support of a faltering deal between Venezuelan state-run oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and Brazilian energy company Petroleos Brasileiros (Petrobras) over the Abreu e Lima refinery possibly as a way of tying Brazil to Venezuela, hobbling Brasilia’s ability to compete elsewhere. As the article notes: […]
Read more »Kazakhstan’s Asia Shift
October 18th, 2011
Via The Silk Road Intelligencer, a report that Kazakhstan is leaning further towards Asia in economic matters: The key question at Kazakhstan’s annual oil and gas conferences in October – Kazenergy and Kioge – concerned the Karachaganak oilfield. Agreement between the Kazakh government and the Karachaganak Petroleum Operating (KPO) consortium is not expected before the […]
Read more »China Seeks Profit, Shuns Politics, In Afghanistan
October 8th, 2011
Via Reuters, a report on China’s focus on Afghan natural resources: The Chinese passengers boarding the weekly Ariana Flight 332 from the remote western city of Urumqi to Kabul speak volumes about ties between a rising China, the world’s number two economy, and its desperately poor and unstable neighbour, Afghanistan. Of at least nine Chinese, […]
Read more »The Not-So-Great Game: Afghanistan and China
October 4th, 2011
Via Foreign Policy, a very interesting article on the Pentagon’s recent handling of Afghanistan’s natural resources. As the article notes: In about a week, the Afghan Ministry of Mines will announce that the China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) — the largest state-owned Chinese company — has won the rights to develop and explore several oil […]
Read more »Dragon On The Savannah: China’s Closer Ties With South Africa
October 4th, 2011
Via The Financial Times, an interesting article on another raft of multi-billion dollar commercial deals between China and an African country. As the article notes: “…According to Reuters, China has agreed to $2.5bn in investment projects with South Africa. While details of the investments are sketchy, the move is the latest illustration of China’s ambitions in the continent. […]
Read more »Focusing primarily on The New Seven Sisters - the largely state owned petroleum companies from the emerging world that have become key players in the oil & gas industry as identified by Carola Hoyos, Chief Energy Correspondent for The Financial Times - but spanning other nascent opportunities around the globe that may hold potential in the years ahead, Wildcats & Black Sheep is a place for the adventurous to contemplate & evaluate the emerging markets of tomorrow.