The Geopolitical Implications Of Chinese Natural Gas Imports

In less than a decade, China’s burgeoning economy has gone from self-sufficiency in natural gas to importing enough natural gas to affect global gas markets. Fortunately for China’s objective to become a gas-consuming superpower, natural gas breakthroughs around the world such as the American shale gas revolution have prompted many to proclaim that we have entered a "Golden Age of Gas". As China’s gas consumption continues to increase, domestic production has lagged, and unconventional gas production targets are unlikely to be fulfilled, prompting furious growth in Chinese natural gas imports, both via pipeline and LNG (liquefied natural gas). To support this growth, Chinese state-owned oil and gas companies have entered into a flurry of foreign gas purchase agreements and energetically acquired foreign gas assets around the globe. Although traditional energy security literature would suggest that foreign energy dependency is harmful to a country’s national security, this is not always entirely accurate. This paper will demonstrate how China can minimize the security risk of natural gas imports, while gaining significant economic and political benefits through energy trade, most notably in Central Asia and Africa. These economic and political benefits outweigh the security risk posed by increased energy dependency and provide an alternate perspective on traditional energy security literature.