Hydrocarbon-hungry China is tearing it up on the offshore oil and gas scene, and its rapidly growing global footprint is helped along because it’s not unconcerned with compliance, transparency, corruption or environmental issues that plague so many oil-rich countries. The Chinese are easy to work with, plus, Chinese development banks are willing to lend billions to oil-producing countries in Latin America and Africa, and its state-run oil companies are willing to invest in projects others won’t touch with a ten-foot pole. All of that has led to a massive Chinese footprint offshore, which will eventually translate into formidable geopolitical power, while the West is left behind. China’s Appetite for Crude A quarter of a century ago, China could meet its domestic demand for crude oil through its own production of 4 million barrels per day. Now, its demand is so much more, but China’s domestic production is still just […]