Penn Calendar Penn A-Z School of Arts and Sciences University of Pennsylvania

Lands of War and Opportunity in Africa: The Global Impact of Sudan and South Sudan on Chinese and Indian National Oil Companies

Luke Patey
Senior Researcher, Danish Institute for International Studies
Friday, September 26, 2014 - 12:00
Center for the Advanced Study of India 3600 Market Street, Suite 560 (5th floor) University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104

About the Speaker:
Luke Patey is a senior researcher at the Dan­ish Insti­tute for Inter­na­tional Stud­ies. His work focuses on the polit­i­cal econ­omy of oil in Sudan and South Sudan, the role of China and India in Africa, and the over­seas invest­ments of Chi­nese and Indian national oil companies. He has written for Finan­cial Times, The Guardian, The Hindu, and VICE News. His commentary has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Bloomberg News, Reuters, Financial Times, BBC World Service, and Radio France International. He is the author of The New Kings of Crude: China, India, and the Global Struggle for Oil in Sudan and South Sudan (Hurst Publishers, 2014). He has been a Vis­it­ing Scholar at Peking Uni­ver­sity (Bei­jing), the Social Sci­ence Research Coun­cil (New York), and the Cen­tre d’études et de recherches inter­na­tionales (Paris).

About the Lecture:
For over a decade, Sudan fueled the international rise of Chinese and Indian national oil companies. But the political turmoil surrounding the historic division of Africa’s largest country, with the birth of South Sudan, challenged Asia’s oil giants to chart a new course. The outbreak of conflict in South Sudan last December only deepened the instability and insecurity, and sent Chinese and Indian diplomats scrambling to reinvigorate their foreign policies to protect their interests and bring an end to the conflict. This lecture will discuss and compare the overseas investments of Chinese and Indian national oil companies, their close ties with their respective governments in Beijing and New Delhi, and experiences with political and security risks in Sudan and South Sudan. It will draw from Luke Patey’s recent book, The New Kings of Crude: China, India, and the Global Struggle for Oil in Sudan and South Sudan. Beyond exploring the economic and political impact of Chinese and Indian engagement in Sudan and South Sudan, the book argues that the two Sudans are examples of how Africa is shaping the rise of China and India as world powers.

Event Flyer

Copies of Luke Patey's new book - The New Kings of Crude: China, India, and the Global Struggle for Oil in Sudan and South Sudan - will be on sale at the event