China's Biggest Investment in Fossil Fuels Yet??

China and Nigeria are negotiating a monster deal that could see the Chinese take control of 17% of all of Nigeria's proven oil reserves. This could be a $50 billion investment on the part of the Chinese. As I quipped in another post, China is not above running small African countries out of its back pocket if it has to in pursuit of energy supplies. Now, Nigeria is not small, but that just means that the Chinese have finished their warm-ups - they'll be taking a heavy hand in how things get done in Nigeria should they plunk down 50 large. Of course this news comes hot on the heels of many other large Chinese forays deeper in the energy world. And yet, somehow, we are supposed to believe that the world - which includes the Chinese - is going to come together, sing kumbayah, and save the planet in Copenhagen this December by limiting theusage of fossil fuels.

Remember folks, in the long run reality will trump this global warming nuttiness.

UPDATE: Apparently the Chinese want in on Uganda too. This is far from a comprehensive list, as it is only off the top of my head, but the Chinese have bought into energy plays in Brazil, Angola, Sudan, Madagascar, Canada, Vietnam, Venezuela, Iran, Egypt, and imminently, Nigeria and Uganda. The Chinese do alot of alternative energy stuff at home too, but given this roster of investments, I'm guessing it's either just for show or they have zero expectation that renewables and the like will get them to the promised land.