China's Resource Demand and Market Opportunities in the Middle East: Policies and Operations in Iran and Iraq

摘要

Following rapid economic development, China's dependence on imported petroleum has been increasing at a pace. In order to prevent an energy shortage that would impede economic development, the Chinese government has come up with a strategy of nocs 'going out'; this is as an important measure for securing energy safety at the beginning of twenty-first century. However, at a time when nationalization has become widespread among resource-rich countries, the only opportunities for Chinese NOCS to implement the 'going out' policy are in politically fragile states. Against this background, Iran and Iraq became important 'going out' destinations of Chinese NOCS. However, the contracts that Chinese NOCS have signed with Iran and Iraq are service contracts. That is to say, by signing this kind of contract, the huge investments made by Chinese NOCS in Iran and Iraq are not equal to their oil or gas interests and the Chinese NOCS are also incapable of ensuring the oil and gas that they produce in both these resource-rich countries are exported to China. As a result, and due to the fact that the needs of the Chinese government with respect to securing stable energy imports, Chinese nocs' decisions towards investing in Iran and Iraq, as well as the way they manage their projects in these two countries are driven purely by commercial considerations.