A depiction of the red flag of China, under the words CHINA FLEXES MUSCLE IN CANADA, blared across the top third of the front page of the financial section of one of Canada's two national newspapers today. It's as though our newspapers are working for the Communist Chinese the way they always so uncritically and exhuberantly announce the ongoing takeover of Canada by that brutal regime.

Our resources are being devoured by our enemy and not a comment is made by the politicians who are instead distracting the masses with local pork-barrel corruption and upcoming election talk.

The thriving oilsands company that sold a stake to the Chinese and a seat on their board said they needed some financing. No doubt the money the Chinese are using to buy in isn't even their own. It's usually borrowed from western sources. The article closes by saying that the government of Canada won't be reviewing the oilsands sale to China. But that's not surprising. Afterall, Canada's Prime Minister for decades, Pierre Trudeau, opened our door to China way back when, and his like-minded "mandarins" (elites who own politicians) are still running government now. ~ Jackie Jura

GIANT REACHES OUT: CNOOC leads the way into Alberta oilsands
Buys stake in MEG Energy
Claudia Cattaneo, Financial Post, Apr 13, 2005

CALGARY - CNOOC Ltd., China's third-largest oil producer, made that country's first investment in Alberta's oilsands yesterday, scooping up a 16.7% stake in closely held startup MEG Energy Corp. for $150-million. Observers said the deal, which gives the Chinese a toehold in the booming sector, will be followed by others. China's two other state controlled oil companies, PetroChina and Sinopec, have also been in discussions with various oilsands players. "It's a first step for China, it probably won't be the last," said Robert Ebel, director of the energy program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "They see this as a foot in the door, an opportunity to learn what the oilsands business is all about. How do you get educated at a minimum cost and minimum risk? You buy into a small company and that gives you a chance to understand the business."

With the investment, Beijing-based CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Corp.), the top Chinese offshore oil producer, becomes the second-largest shareholder in MEG after Warburg Pincus, a large New York-based fund manager in New York. Quebec fund manager CDP Capital is another major investor in the pure oilsands play. "I'm excited with our low-cost entry into oilsands," Yang Hua, chief financial officer of CNOOC, said in a statement. CNOOC plans to learn about the advanced technology and expertise of oilsands development, added Fu Chengyu, chairman and chief executive of CNOOC. It hopes to use the skills it learns here to exploit oilsand and shale reserves in China, he said.

Dale Hohm, MEG's chief financial officer, said the investment does not make CNOOC a partner or entitle it to the project's oil production. "We have the expertise and the management to develop the project on our own," he said. "All we have been seeking is financial investors. CNOOC are not in the day-to-day management of the project, but they do have representation on the board." One of MEG's 10 directors will be picked by the Chinese.

China, the world's second-largest energy consumer, has been scouring the world to secure energy supplies, but its oil companies have been frustrated in their efforts. CNOOC lost out in the bidding earlier this month for U.S. producer Unocal Corp., which was purchased by U.S. rival ChevronTexaco Corp. for US$16.4-billion. "Most of the big projects are in the hands of the major companies," Mr. Ebel said. "So the pickings left for them are pretty small. It's not that people don't want them around. There is just nothing available, unless you are willing to put big bucks on the table. But they are not willing to do that."

Peter Tertzakian, chief energy economist at ARC Financial Corp., said the Chinese are interested in the oilsands because it's one of the last great oil frontiers to be developed. "It's geopolitically consistent with a country that is trying to secure oil supplies to fuel its future growth. The British did it early last century, the Americans did it after the Second World War, and now we are seeing China do it," he said. "It's something to watch very closely, to see how their strategy evolves." The Chinese want to lock up physical supplies, rather than buy oil in the futures market, because it gives them more confidence they are secure, he said. MEG owns 52 sections of oilsands leases with two billion barrels of recoverable oil northeast of EnCana Corp.'s Christina Lake project. First commercial production of 25,000 barrels a day is expected in 2008 at a cost of $500-million to $1-billion. The project can be expanded to produce 140,000 b/d in the next 10 years.

CNOC's investment is unlikely to be reviewed under Canada's foreign investment rules because it is not a controlling interest.

CHINESE GULLIVER IN AMERICA