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Beijing Olympics to boost Chinese energy demand
London—The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games will boost
China’s rampant demand for energy, threatening to push world oil
prices beyond current record heights, according to industry
analysts.
Crude prices surged last week to strike a record high above 126
dollars per barrel, boosted by tightening supplies, under investment
in global production and ongoing unrest in key producer Nigeria.
Runaway oil prices were also partly fuelled by “stockpiling in China
to prevent shortages ahead of the Olympics,” said Lehman Brothers
analyst Edward Morse.
Asian economic powerhouse China, the world’s second most voracious
energy consumer after the United States, stages the Summer Olympics
from August 8-24.
Industry experts reckon that China, which enjoys record-breaking
economic growth, will need even more crude oil to provide the
facilities, transportation and energy supplies that are required to
power a successful Olympic Games.
“In the lead-up to the Games you are going to see pretty heavy
spending in infrastructure—building roads, residential property,
hotels—and this is typically energy intensive,” said BNP Paribas
analyst Harry Tchilinguirian.
Demand for kerosene, or jet fuel, was also expected to rocket as
spectators and athletes fly in and out of the Chinese capital city
along with untold numbers of tourists.
“The other aspect is increased demand for transport fuel—jet fuel
for getting people there (to Beijing), not just from the outside but
also from within China,” Tchilinguirian said.
China, the world’s fourth-largest economy, grew at a breakneck pace
of 11.9 percent in 2007 and chalked up quarterly growth of 10.6
percent in the first three months of 2008.
“China has been spending quite a bit on infrastructure to accompany
its record-breaking growth but on top of that, some of this is
related to the preparation of the Olympics,” Tchilinguirian added.—AFP
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