[Red] China takes interest in South Sudan pipeline

AFPC China Reform Monitor ^ | 5/3/2012 | Joshua Eisenman, ed.

[bruinbirdman]

President Salva Kiir of South Sudan is in China to open a new embassy and meet with President Hu Jintao. Kiir is seeking Chinese financing for an oil pipeline through Kenya that would bypass Sudan. Beijing has already pledged technical assistance for the pipeline and will contribute heavily to the project, including labor, loans and development aid. Chinese construction companies and oil companies are likely to bid for the project, the Associated Press reports. This month Japan’s Toyota Tsusho Corporation completed a feasibility study for the pipeline and is putting together a proposal to begin construction. Landlocked South Sudan is also considering building a pipeline through Ethiopia and Djibouti and using trucks to move crude to Port Mombasa, Reuters reports. China is the top investor in South Sudan’s oilfields and the biggest buyer of oil from both Sudan and South Sudan, purchasing about 13 million barrels last year, roughly five percent of China’s 2011 crude imports.

[Editor’s Note: South Sudan seceded from Sudan last year, but the two countries are fighting over a vital oilfield on their border after tensions rose following a dispute over how much South Sudan should pay to transport its oil output through Sudan to Djibouti's Red Sea port.]

[Recon Dad]

China is the top investor in South Sudan’s oilfields and the biggest buyer of oil from both Sudan and South Sudan, purchasing about 13 million barrels last year, roughly five percent of China’s 2011 crude imports.

The Chicoms are running around throwing money at anything and everything that even smells like oil. They're not interested in politics or the environment...just oil.