If you thought China would take a breather from its quest for natural resources when it lost out on its bid to double its stake in Rio Tinto
You probably recall that the nation put money into Brazil's Petrobras
China has also made energy deals with Russia and Kazakhstan, and just missed in its efforts to double its percentage holding in Rio Tinto through Aluminum Corp. of China. Now, however, it appears that both China National Petroleum Corp. and CNOOC
Repsol has not been the production star in recent years that, for instance, its French neighbor Total
However, not all the news from Repsol has been negative. Indeed, the company has made several oil and gas discoveries in the Santos Basin, the deepwater play that has been so good to Petrobras, ExxonMobil
Nevertheless, if I were looking for a European-based integrated oil and gas entity into which I might drop some shekels, Repsol would not be at the top of my list. I'd much rather place my faith -- and my money -- in a star like Total.
In the meantime, it'll be a kick to watch China continue to scour the world in its quest for natural resources with which to stock its growing economy.
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