China has emerged from the global financial downfall as the energy banker of last resort to the world.
Since February, Beijing has signed US$48 billion (Dh176.25bn) of long-term loan-for-energy agreements with cash-strapped oil and gas exporters.
The recipients have little in common beyond overstretched national treasuries and large, untapped oil and gas resources, significant chunks of which will now be developed with Chinese money.
In February, China Development Bank (CDB) agreed to lend $15bn to Rosneft, the Russian state-owned oil company, and $10bn to Transneft, the Russian oil pipeline monopoly, in return for deliveries of 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil to China for 20 years.
The agreement was the biggest energy deal ever struck between Moscow and Beijing, and will establish China as the main market for crude that Russia plans to pump from its new generation of oilfields in eastern Siberia.
The Russian deal was followed within days by multibillion-dollar loan agreements with Brazil and Venezuela.
Petrobras, the Brazilian state-controlled oil company, agreed to supply between 100,000 and 160,000 bpd of crude at market prices to China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Sinopec, the Chinese state-owned refiner, in repayment of a $10bn loan from CDB to develop a large offshore oilfield.
Beijing also agreed to contribute $4bn to a joint investment fund in Venezuela in return for a pledge of up to 200,000 bpd of refined oil supplies from Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), the Venezuelan national oil company.
The $6bn fund, founded by CDB and Venezuela Bandes Bank, is expected to finance heavy oil developments in Venezuela's Orinoco belt, which contains some of the world's largest untapped oil deposits, and to be tripled to $18bn within the next nine years.
In March, Angola confirmed it had received a $1bn loan from Beijing. It was the latest in a series of oil-backed loans totalling at least $5bn that China has extended to the African OPEC member to rebuild infrastructure destroyed by the 27-year civil war that ended in 2002.
In April, CNPC agreed to lend $5bn to KazMunaiGas, the Kazakh national energy company. The two companies also agreed to acquire MangistauMunaiGas, a Kazakh oil and gas producer, from Indonesia's Central Asia Petroleum.
CNPC, which already holds a 67 per cent interest in the Kazakh oil producer PetroKazakhstan, has recently said it saw central Asia as its key overseas oil and gas production base, shifting its focus from Africa.
Further strengthening its position in the region, Beijing last month agreed to lend Turkmenistan $3bn to develop its huge South Yolotan gasfield, according to Turkmen state media reports. The field, appraised last year by the British firm Gaffney, Cline and Associates, is thought to be one of the five largest gas deposits in the world.
China has been looking at supplies from its ex-Soviet neighbour for some time, seeking to loosen Russia's grip on Turkmen gas exports. A 7,000km gas pipeline being built from Turkmenistan to China should be ready to transport up to 40 billion cubic metres of gas annually by the end of this year.
Hit by volatility in the oil price, falling global energy demand and political uncertainties in many oil exporting states, international oil companies have been shying away from investment in regions where oil and gas reserves are especially costly to develop, or where rising resource nationalism has threatened profits or their ownership of assets.
Brazil and Angola, with deepwater offshore oilfields, and Venezuela with its ultra-heavy oil, are examples of the former. Russia and Venezuela stand out as examples of the latter.
Debt financing for energy development in such countries has also become more expensive and difficult to obtain because of higher perceived risks to lenders.
Yesterday, Standard & Poor's cut PDVSA's credit rating to four levels below investment grade, citing a significant deterioration of the company's cash position.
That has opened an opportunity for Beijing, which has strong foreign currency reserves and sees the need for vast amounts of energy to fuel its future economic growth,.
It can count on its status as a rising world economic, political and military power to ensure that its new partners do not renege on supply commitments.
In other recent developments, CNPC won a $4.7bn contract this month to develop phase 11 of Iran's South Pars gasfield, replacing the French energy group Total in the project that is linked to a plan to develop liquefied natural gas exports.
While the contract does not guarantee Iranian gas supplies to China, it should make them more likely in coming years.
Chinese state oil companies are also rumoured to be interested in bidding for Addax Petroleum, a Canadian company that this month started exporting oil from Iraqi Kurdistan and also operates in west Africa.
tcarlisle@thenational.ae
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg
Real Madrid (2) v Bayern Munich (1)
Where: Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
When: 10.45pm, Tuesday
Watch Live: beIN Sports HD
Name: Colm McLoughlin
Country: Galway, Ireland
Job: Executive vice chairman and chief executive of Dubai Duty Free
Favourite golf course: Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club
Favourite part of Dubai: Palm Jumeirah
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Sebastian Stefan, Sebastian Morar and Claudia Pacurar
Based: Dubai, UAE
Founded: 2014
Number of employees: 36
Sector: Logistics
Raised: $2.5 million
Investors: DP World, Prime Venture Partners and family offices in Saudi Arabia and the UAE
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
MATCH INFO
Osasuna 1 Real Madrid 4
Osasuna: García (14')
Real Madrid: Isco (33'), Ramos (38'), Vázquez (84'), Jovic (90' 2)
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
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Guide to intelligent investing
Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
- Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
- Rational thinking: Breathe and avoid emotional decision-making; let logic and planning guide your actions.
- Strategic patience: Understand why you’re investing and allow time for your strategies to unfold.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
