Sinopec's ambitions

The Chinese giant pushes its pawns in Africa, which represents 20% of the imports of oil from Beijing. Sinopec just purchased the shares of the French Total in the Usan field, off the coast of Nigeria.

Behind the gray walls of the headquarters of Sinopec in Beijing, cultivated the mystery. An almost military secrecy reigns in the ranks of its million employees. The largest group of Asian - and fifth in the world - is a little China pipeline. Its assets reached 280 billion dollars (217 billion euros), including 35 billion abroad. "Africa represents 20% of the imports of oil in China, says Michael Wang, analyst at HSBC." The country consumes 10 million barrels per day and has to import more than 4 million. Their needs are therefore very important, and this is the reason why there are Sinopec, Cnooc and PetroChina on all fronts, particularly in Africa. »