China could be the leading source of energy in Central Asia

Image Source: blogs.voanews.com

With its ever growing influence, China is laying stake to its claim on being the leading economy of the world. The Chinese government has been known to aggressively explore additional energy sources within and around the region. And for ten graduate fellows from the School for Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, the Asian country could very well be on its way to being the dominant energy source in the region.

When quizzed by Alexandros Peterson, advisor to the European Energy Security Initiative at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars on the possibility of China racing past Russia as the main broker in Central Asia, they said that, “If [China National Petroleum Corp.] begins to distribute natural gas in central Asia, it brings tremendous potential leverage.”

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The fellows and the audience agreed that China’s entry to a leadership role is no longer a matter of ‘if,’ but ‘when’ and that there is now a question of “what the development of local firms pursuing green technology means alongside China’s presence.” According to them, Russia will be changing its outlook given that it is now “becoming more cooperative than confrontational.” Thus, its grasp on being the main broker could potentially be usurped by a confident China.

Image Source: chinaincentralasia.com

With over three decades of experience, Dr. Ali Ghalambor has penned various books on oil and gas production such as the Frac Packing Handbook. For more about him, visit this Facebook page.