Were they ever ours? I think it’s a good thing.When we are deprived of minerals etc.we will be spurred to self sufficiency. The Chinese don’t have oil.They need to import most of their stuff. The US and Canada have most of the minerals and oil we need right here. It’s time we get pushed in that direction.
Actually, the Chinese do have oil. Unfortunately, they produce about 4m barrels per day and use 10m barrels, which means they have a shortfall of 6m barrels per day that they must import. We use 18.7m barrels per day and produce 5.5m barrels per day, for a shortfall of 13m barrels - or twice the Chinese shortfall. The Chinese probably have oil elsewhere, since they've not been producing for very long. The problem is that they want to keep all the profits from striking oil while leaving it to foreign companies to pay for the dry holes - which means few foreign companies want to get involved in Chinese projects:
China is home to some of the world’s richest offshore oil and gas reserves, with proven reserves of 24 billion tons of crude oil and 14 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, equivalent to 126 times the country’s crude oil output and 184 times its natural gas output in 2008.However, China’s offshore oil development is still hampered by technological and equipment constraints.
“In the current stage, our offshore exploration has been heavily dependent on foreign technology and equipment. It usually costs around $70 million to $100 million for us to drill a new offshore oil well,” said Zhou Baixiu, former assistant to Sinopec’s general manager.
Zhou said the company has been actively involved in international offshore oil development projects in order to acquire modern exploration technology and advanced platform management skills. The company is currently participating in six offshore exploration projects, most of which have a depth of 500-1000 meters.
But if America is anything it is a nation of businesses. Are you advocating that America should withdraw into its shell?
America created the international system after the Second World War because She was confident of being competitive. What do you think America gains from withdrawing from two continents?