Industry expert: China oil companies looking abroad

Art Smith, head of market research firm John S. Herold, which specializes in the analysis of the global energy industry, had this to say in response to questions from Barron's:

Q: What are your thoughts on mergers and acquisitions in the (energy) sector?

The driving force in the market right now is the national oil companies such as China's PetroChina (ticker: PTR) and Sinopec (ticker: SNP) and China National Offshore OilCorp. Brazil's Petrobras 
has gotten active. We are seeing an incredible amount of expansion
interest by those companies. They are interested in the U.S., Canada
and South America and everywhere else. They are setting the tone, and
that will continue.

Q: And high prices are not deterring them?

Absolutely not. Everyone complains about China being the
cause of the oil price run-up, but they are the second-largest importer
of oil. The U.S. is the real culprit in terms of thirst for imported
oil. Yet China's needs will continue to expand.

More from the Barron's interview here (subscription required).