Maria Cantwell: “The Senator from Illinois brings up an important question, which is with China's interest in global oil supply and the…”

“The Senator from Illinois brings up an important question, which is with China's interest in global oil supply and the demand, is it going to drive up the price. I don't think an oil company really cares whether the price of oil is driven up or not. What do they care? Somebody is going to pay them, whether it is $50, $55, $60, $80, or $100. With an increase in demand, that is good news for them. Oil supply costs just go up. They reap the benefits; they reap the profit. But what it is not good for is the American economy. So the Senator is absolutely right, China's entrance into the demand for foreign oil should be seen by this country as an economic and security risk. China's consumption and growth rate is staggering. China is going to be consuming I think I said 8 million barrels of imports. They have already overtaken Japan, and they are fast on our heels to catch up to our consumption, and they will get to a point where they are the 800-pound gorilla in the dynamics of world oil supply. Even our underlying bill says you can try to ramp up different sources of U.S. production. But we all know with the United States being situated on 3 percent of the world's oil reserves, it is not a likely scenario for us in the United States to be able to drill our way to energy security. So the Senator is right, China is a unique concern in this.…”