It is true that Chinese oil giants are going global. But they are still mainly drawing on China's own energy reserves to fuel the nation's economy.

The 2007 exploration and development budget of the country's top offshore oil firm CNOOC is evidence.

CNOOC will spend $512 million on exploration this year. Most of the $512 million exploration budget (75 percent) will go to domestic projects.

There have always been veiled remarks about the overseas expansion of Chinese oil companies, alleging they are drilling the world's reserves to fuel China's growth. CNOOC's bid for US counterpart Unocal was even blocked by the US authorities in 2005.

But this allegation is not based on fact Chinese oil giants are still firmly focused on China.

Sinopec's top priority this year is to pipe Sichuan-produced gas to the eastern part of the country by developing the Puguang field.

CNPC, China's largest oil producer, said recently it would invest 250 billion yuan in 2007 to increase production at oil and gas fields in the eastern part of the country, while investing further in the development of potential fields in western China.

Although CNPC also said it was necessary to tap overseas projects, most of its crude oil produced abroad has not been shipped back.

All these facts make it crystal clear that Chinese oil giants are not threatening the world's energy supply, but rather they are active participants in the global industry. Moreover, China's per capita oil and gas consumption is much lower than that of many industrialized countries such as the United States and Japan.

Given all of this, how can Chinese oil firms be a threat to global energy security and safety?

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