Introduction

(September 2010) - It is now 17 years since China became a net importer of oil in 1993. This change of status from a significant net exporter of oil to a rapidly growing net importer triggered a range of new strategies on the part of China's government and of its national oil companies: diversification of sources of oil imports, investment in overseas oil exploration and production, the construction of oil import pipelines, the building of strategic oil stocks, the provision of loans in return for oil supplies, and the overt practise of energy diplomacy.