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Article: In the pipeline; The oil wars.(Asia's oil wars)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- May 1, 2004
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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China and Japan are locked in a fierce diplomatic and economic struggle to win access to Russian oil
THE oil city of Daqing, in the bleak plains of north-eastern China, was once a proud symbol of the country's self-reliant spirit. The discovery of huge reserves there in 1959 allowed China to end its dependence on Soviet oil supplies, and fortified the country in its subsequent cold-war struggle with its fellow communist neighbour. Daqing's ubiquitous rigs still pump away, but output from the ageing field is dropping off. Meanwhile, China's economic boom has produced a growing hunger for energy that only foreign supplies can satisfy. Energy strategists in Beijing ...