Building New Silk Roads to Avert an Energy Crisis in 2010

Leigh Riordon
Soc 202 Sills
Building New Silk Roads to Avert an Energy Crisis in 2010
By: Jams Finch
In the lat 1900s northeastern China’s oil fields passed their peak and many other fields of the same quality were discovered. The United States is the world’s largest oil importer. After the U.S. then comes China whose foreign oil jumped 10 percent from January to June in 2006 and the same thing happened in 2005. During those first 6 months oil imports grew 47.3 percent. In 2001 China’s imported oil stood at a little less than 27 percent. And, in 2004 the percent shot up to 41 percent. Statistics show that the Middle East provides roughly 45 percent and Africa exports about 29 percent to China. Interestingly enough China only consumes 4 percent of what the world’s oil fields produce, but has 20 percent of the world’s population. The biggest question is this….” Presently importing three million barrels of crude oil everyday to fuel the growing number of automobiles, where will China find the oil to produce gasoline in 2020, when the country has as many as 140 million cars on its roads?” Since the year 2001, China has obtained more than 100 oil fields, while its state-owned oil companies have put out 15 billion dollars over the past 5 years in order to build their oil reserves. China is now trying to acquire more energy sources. Through central Asia, South America and Africa, this may be possible.
Through silk roads China emerged as an economic powerhouse in the mid 1900s. Someday China hopes to export their neighbor’s hydroelectric power, by helping the Burmese people build a dam across the Salween River. For many reasons China has settled for less in order to meet the country’s demand for energy security. China has also been accused for doing business with disagreeable nations. In Kazakhstan, China waited for seven yeas to build an 1800-mile oil pipeline across the Kazak border which is next to Xingjian province. China developed relations with the Kazaks since the fall of the Soviet Union. It has been discovered that Russia is slowly but surely pushing China out of Central Asia’s oil and gas assets.
After reading this article, I now know that we as the United States are the world’s largest oil importer. I thought the increasing of foreign oil in the years 2000 to 20006 in China was astonishing. What I do no understand is why the increase of foreign oil happens during the first six months of the year. I also do not understand how it is possible for China to have 20 percent of the world’s population, but only consumes 4 percent of the world’s oil. If since the year 2000 China has obtained more reserves, than how many oil fields do we the United States have? How much money do we spend each year on oil reserves?