Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Moscow on Monday will provide ample opportunity for Russian and Chinese leaders to sit down and assess the past, present and future of energy cooperation between the two countries. While Moscow and Beijing already work together in a variety of areas including trade, arms and diplomacy, energy has the momentum at present. With Russia rivaling Saudi Arabia to be the world's largest oil producer and China the second-largest oil consumer, the logic for cooperation is clear. Yet distrust, suspicion and envy have stymied the development of this relationship.
China's thirst for oil is clear from the numbers. Although the country was self-sufficient in oil as late as 1993, unprecedented economic growth in recent years has drastically changed the situation. Since 1995, for example, China's gross domestic product has grown by 8 percent to 10 percent per year, while oil imports have increased by an average of 22 percent.
And the appetite continues to grow. According to a September 2005 report from China's Energy Research Institute, China's oil demand will top 11 million barrels per day by 2020. By the same year, China will have to be a net importer of almost 8 million barrels per day, versus about 4 million now. How will it make up the difference?
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