In order to diversify supply and reduce vulnerability to high oil prices,
Chinese energy companies have begun to travel around the world for oil and natural gas exploration and development contracts. In the so-called going-out strategy (acquisition of exploration and operation rights in overseas oil and gas fields) for energy security, Beijing has identified Latin America as one of the three major regions (together with Russia/Central Asia and the Middle East/Africa) that may be China’s emerging energy suppliers. In fact, the earliest debut of a Chinese energy company in an overseas acquisition was the $250 million purchase of an oil field development rights in Peru by a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation in 1993, the year when China turned from an oil exporter to an importer.