Representatives from Canadian oil and gas companies talked with Chinese colleagues at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing on April 23.[Photo by Wang Ru/China Daily]

Canadian oil and gas producers and related energy technology companies are showing huge interest in tapping into Asian markets, China in particular.

In late April, energy companies from the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia made trips to China to meet potential Chinese clients. Alberta boasts tar sand fields and British Columbia extensive reserves of natural gas.

China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), China’s biggest offshore oil and gas developer, organized the Canadian delegation that consisted of 27 companies with solid expertise, including in the areas of shale oil drilling, pipeline construction and oilfield waste management.

In 2012, CNOOC, the state-owned conglomerate, purchased Canada’s oil and gas producer Nexen Inc for $15.1 billion, making it the biggest outbound acquisition.

“In terms of investment, Canada welcomes investors from China. At present, some $650 billion in new investment is planned or underway over the coming decade through hundreds of major resource projects,” said Guy Saint-Jacques, Canada’s Ambassador to China.

Canada, the traditional oil supplier of the US, faces tough challenges amid the current global oil depression which has cut thousands of domestic jobs in the industry and a gloomy future about how to survive when its biggest energy customer, the US, becoming less reliant on imported crude oil.

Chinese energy experts believed that China, however, will need to continue importing oil and rely on stable supplies from overseas sources.

Despite the plunging crude oil price, it is said a good timing for China to develop options for the energy security in the future.

Han Hua, managing director of the Sino-Alberta Petroleum Center said "uncertainties still exist over the changing regional political situations in China's main oil and gas sources, such as the Middle East and Myanmar.”

“But shipping from Canada is safe,” he said.

China has loosened its control on crude oil import rights, which are owned by state-owned enterprises, including Sinopec, PetroChina and CNOOC.

It is reported that China may grant 300,000 metric tons of crude oil this year to private companies.

Xinjiang Guanghui Petroleum Co Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Guanghui Energy, was granted an import quota of 200,000 metric tons of crude oil for 2014, becoming the first private company to obtain such a license in August.

“We will see how competitive of the price they could offer,” said Wang Weidong, general manager of Guanghui Energy’s logistic base in east China’s Jiangsu province.

Canada has the fourth largest proven oil reserves and is the fifth largest producer of oil in the world, producing more than 3 million barrels a day.

It is expected that additional Canadian oil reserves will become available, and that Canada may eventually surpass Saudi Arabia and Venezuela in having the largest oil reserves in the world.

Canada is also the world’s third largest producer of natural gas, with recoverable resources estimated at representing some 200 years of supple, including both conventional and unconventional gas.