CHINA has a huge craving for energy that is evident across the globe as it searches far and wide for the fuel to keep its massive economy growing.

It recorded economic growth of 10.2% in 2005 and, according to BP's Statistical Review of World Energy 2006, accounted for just under half of the world's entire growth in energy consumption for the year.

Not only is China the world's biggest producer and consumer of coal, but it is the second biggest consumer of oil after the US and just this summer it stepped onto the international LNG stage by importing its first ever cargo into a new terminal at Guangdong.

In oil, Chinese state-owned giants CNOOC, Sinopec and PetroChina, are investing billions of dollars in overseas fields as they seek secure access to the huge quantities of oil that will be required over and above domestic supplies.