COMMENT Rather like panic attempts by some governments to secure oil in the 1970s, Asia has suddenly accelerated its quest for energy security in recent days. Chinese oil companies are expanding their investment horizon to the point of weighing up the purchase of a US major, Unocal. India has followed China into investing in Iranian oil and gas. Both are vying for a piece of Russia's truncated Yukos. And India has just hosted the first meeting of Gulf oil-producing and Asian oil-consuming countries.
It is not surprising that oil-poor Asia has become so energy-anxious. Its four big economies - China, Japan, India and South Korea - import 12m barrels a day, more than the US, and their import dependence is either higher or rising faster than the US. Worse still, Asia draws 80 per cent of its oil from Middle East producers, which have not been blind to the seller's market this presents them with. Gulf oil states have long charged Asian consumers a premium that they cannot make stick with US or European refiners, which have a more diverse set of suppliers.
