china on the prowl

things are definitely heating up.
BOW and VPE had very strong moves on the BG announcement.
If BG makes a move on BOW you would think that Shell/PetroChina would also be very interested given how close we are to Arrows operations.

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SINGAPORE - China's commodity firms are expected to continue their overseas spending spree for at least the next two years.

Last year alone, China spent US$75 billion ($96 billion) in mergers and acquisition (M&A) deals in energy-rich countries such as Russia, Brazil and Venezuela, in a bid to secure its energy future.

Going forward, analysts expect the buying to remain focused on oil and gas companies, with China's largest oil company, PetroChina, alone expected to spend US$60 billion in M&A deals in the next 10 years.

Analysts said Chinese firms are on the hunt for companies that produce coal-seam gas, a form of natural gas extracted from coal beds. Australia seems to be a likely hunting ground,

"This year PetroChina acquired Arrow Energy in Australia, which has a coal-seam gas development technology and the LNG technology of turning this unconventional gas into liquid form," said Ms Sonia Song, HSBC's regional head of oil and gas research. "Now, we have to see how Chinese companies will implement the new technologies and how much success they will get out of it."

Coal-seam gas is two to three times cheaper than conventional gas - but cost aside, analysts said China's blistering growth means it must find energy wherever it can and in whatever form.