GLOBAL OIL

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China has the fastest-growing major economy in the world and one of the largest. Its continued growth is crucial for its 1.3 billion people and the entire world economy.

China's demand for fuel also continues to grow. The Chinese keep buying more cars and appliances. China's oil imports have doubled in the past 5 years. China is now the second-largest consumer of petroleum after the United States.

Although China is the fifth-largest oil producer, they are draining the large but dwindling Daqing and Shengli fields. Huge fields in the deserts of the Tarim basin present formidable geographic and technical difficulties.

With money and diplomacy the Chinese government is aggresively working to secure more crude oil around the world, in countries like Angola and Venezuela.