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Article

17 Jan 2012

Author:
Geert Van Vliet, CIRAD, UMR ART-DEV, France; Géraud Magrin, CIRAD, UMR TETIS, France; Weiyong Yang, Yiran Lin, Fan Wang and Guohuang Liang, University of International Business and Economics, China; Gilbert Maoundonodji and Antoine Doudjidingao, GRAMP-TC, Chad; Romain Dittgen and Marie-Adeline Tavares, Université de Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, UMR PRODIG

[PDF] Rising Powers and Global Standards: Chinese and American oil companies and their environmental practices in Chad: A quiet confluence of streams or silence before the battle?

Does the Chinese National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) intend to, and is it in a position to, engage in a race to the bottom regarding environmental standards and norms in Chad’s oil sector?...We will try to argue that...the CNPC is not in a position―and there are no indications of any CNPC intent―to engage in ‘a race to the bottom’...[W]e will first focus on the emergence of environmental regulation in China, its limits and the obligations it nevertheless creates for the larger Chinese firms, in particular in the oil sector. We will then recall the main elements of the Exxon-Doba heritage, and show how the critical juncture generated by...interactions between civil society, the state, the World Bank and the consortium led by Exxon has been preserved...We will then analyse the environmental practices of CNPC thus far in Chad and focus on how they resemble and differ from those of Exxon. This will allow us to discuss the challenges involved in the CNPC-Exxon relationship in Chad and analyse the reasons for the...[probability of] CNPC consolidating the new directions explored under the Exxon-Doba project. Meanwhile, a scenario in which tensions are revived should not be excluded...