Chinese President Xi Jinping struck a deal with Kazakhstan on Saturday giving China a stake in its giant Kashagan oil project, a highlight of his tour of Central Asia to secure hydrocarbons for the world's largest energy consumer.
The $5 billion deal further increases China's rising clout in post-Soviet Central Asia, once Russia's imperial backyard, and blocks an attempt by global rival India to get a stake in the oilfield, the world's largest oil discovery in five decades.
"The two countries have agreed on China's shareholding in the development of the Kashagan deposit," Xi told a news briefing after talks with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. "The two governments hail and support this agreement."
Oil and gas deals, including on building an oil refinery in Kazakhstan, are among 22 agreements worth some $30 billion reached during Xi's visit, Nazarbayev said.Meanwhile, the US continues to dither on a) meaningful oil and gas energy policy; b) the Keystone XL; and, c) the Arctic.
The US will move ahead with Federal fracking regulations to slow down / stymie US oil and gas industry.
On the other hand, the Kashagan hasn't turned out all that successful to date. Maybe the Chinese will have better luck.
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