HONG KONG — Oil prices continue to fluctuate nervously with every report or rumor that the world economy is either on the mend or heading for double dip recession. They slithered again when it became clear that the U.S. economy is still in trouble. Ben Bernanke, the U.S. Federal Reserve chairman, and his colleagues are arguing furiously about what, if anything, they can or should do to come to the rescue.
Oil offers a specific example of our dangerous world. The Paris-based International Energy Agency reported that China has now passed the United States as the world's biggest consumer of energy. According to its data, last year China consumed 2.25 billion tons of oil equivalent in 2009, about 4 percent more than the 2.17 billion tons of the U.S. The measure of oil equivalent includes all forms of energy consumption, including oil, gas, coal, nuclear and hydropower.
Simultaneously, China's oil import dependence last year exceeded 50 percent for the first time. China produced 189 million tons of crude oil of its own, but imported an extra 199 million tons. Beijing's officials predict that the hunger for oil to fuel China's rapid economic growth will cause the oil import dependence to grow to 65 percent by 2015 and 70 percent by 2020.