Konferenzband 
China, the EU and Latin America : current issues and future cooperation
Entstehung
Einzelbild herunterladen
 

OilCooperationbetweenChinaandLatinAmerica 53 Brazildiscoveredtwolargeoffshoreoilfields theLulaadministrationactively negotiatedwithChinatostrengthenexplorationcooperation.InFebruary2009 ChinaandBrazilsignedaMemorandumofUnderstanding MOU involvingUSD 10billioninloansforoilimports. 4.犆犺犪犾犾犲狀犵犲狊犳狅狉犉狌狉狋犺犲狉犆狅狅狆犲狉犪狋犻狅狀 Basedontheanalysispresentedabove oilcooperationbetweenChinaand LatinAmericahasabrightfuture.However thereareafewpotentialbarriers orchallengesthatshouldnotbeneglectedandwhichmightleadtofrictionin cooperationbetweenthetwosides.Forexample oilshipmentsandrefiningare headachesforChineseoilcompanies.CrudeoilfromLatinAmericaisheavyand sour requiringadifferentkindofrefiningtechnologyandequipmenttoprocess. Thefollowingfactorsshouldalsobetakenintoconsideration withaviewto deepeningcooperationbetweenthetworegions. First politicaluncertaintiescannotbeoverlooked.Intheshortandmedium term militaryconflictisunlikelyinLatinAmerica.However someunstable politicalfactorsshouldbenotedwhichmightimpactonChinasoilinvestmentsin theAndeanregion.In March2009 theColombianarmycrossedtheEcuador borderinpursuitoftheRevolutionaryArmedForcesofColombia leadingtoa diplomaticcrisisbetween Ecuador Colombia Venezuelaand Nicaragua.In short politicalstabilityshouldbeexaminedcarefullywhenassessingChinese investmentsecurity. Second policyuncertaintystillexists.Sincethe1990s energypoliciesin LatinAmericahaveexperiencedtwoperiodsofreadjustment.Inthefirstperiod duringthemiddleandendofthe1990s mostLatinAmericancountriesstarted toprivatiseandopenuptheirenergysectors.Thesecondperiodofpolicy adjustmenthappenedbetween2001and2007 strengtheninggovernmentcontrol overenergyresources.Policyadjustmentscanbedividedintotwogroupsof countries.Thefirstgroupincludes Venezuela Boliviaand Ecuador which adoptedradicalpolicies increasingtheirshareoftheprofitsfromrapidlyrising oilpricesorraisingtheirnationaloilcompaniessharesinjointventures.The othergroupincludesMexico Brazil PeruandColombia.Thesefourcountries implemented policy oflimited openness but also one of considerable consistency.SinceJuly2008 internationaloilpriceshavefluctuatedstrongly. ThereisnodoubtthatmajorLatinAmericanoilproducingcountriesmaychange theirpoliciesagaintoattractforeigncapital.However uncertaintiesconcerning policychangesinLatinAmericaremain representingariskfactorwithregardto futureoilcooperation.