China, India sign energy agreement
(China Daily/AFP)
Updated: 2006-01-13 05:46

The agreement calls for the establishment of a joint committee to monitor implementation and facilitate dialogue and information sharing not only in purchasing energy but in "the full spectrum of the hydrocarbon chain," he said.

Aiyar said it would take a year to see how the agreement worked, but he was fully confident that the two energy-hungry nations could cooperate as they sought global energy assets to fuel their booming economies.

"We will see from practical experiences the advantages of going at it together rather than separately," he said.

Besides the memorandum, five commercial agreements were also signed between Indian and Chinese firms, Aiyar said.

His three-day visit, which started on Wednesday, comes at a time when the two countries have emerged as significant consumers of hydrocarbon resources.

Over the past year, there have been a number of occasions when Indian and Chinese companies publicly competed for the same assets, such as in Angola, Kazakhstan and Ecuador.

That rivalry was highlighted this week when China National Overseas Oil Corp (CNOOC) announced its purchase of a 45-per cent stake in the Akpo field off the Nigerian coast for US$2.3 billion.

Aiyar's trip has raised expectations that China and India which rely heavily on energy imports to power their economies will put aside their competing strategies to work together.

"Co-operation between India and China in third countries is not only eminently desirable; it is also entirely feasible," Aiyar said.

Three Chinese firms including Sinopech and CNOOC Limited have joined hands with their Indian counterparts.