Over the past three decades, China has emerged as the world’s largest energy consumer and importer, reshaping the global oil market in the process. In its pursuit of energy security, China has formed an unforeseen yet strategic partnership with Brazil. The Latin American country left the status of an oil importer to become one of the world’s leading crude oil exporters in the past two decades due to the discovery of pre-salt reserves in 2007. Not accidentally, China’s influence has been a central actor in the transformation of the Brazilian oil industry.
But how has China contributed to Brazil’s transformation into an oil power? Pedro Henrique Batista Barbosa, a scholar and career diplomat at the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Relations, answers that question and explores the dynamics of this bilateral relationship in his book China, Brazil and Petroleum: The Role of China in Brazil’s Transformation into an Oil Power. Adapted from his PhD thesis at Renmin University of China in Beijing, the book explores the ways in which China contributed to Brazil’s rise as a global oil power. Barbosa argues that Brazil’s role in China’s energy strategy and China’s influence in shaping Brazil’s oil industry have not received the attention they deserve in existing academic literature. Therefore, his purpose was to fill the gap in the existing research, by providing a comprehensive study of the subject.
Barbosa asserts that China played a decisive role in Brazil’s energy development path, particularly following the discovery of the country’s gigantic pre-salt oil reserves. He argues that through investments, development loans, and long-term oil agreements, China not only secured its own energy needs but also helped improve Brazil’s oil production capacity considerably. “In 2007, Brazil was 16th largest oil producer and jumped to 9th in 2022, outranking traditional oil states, such as Kuwait” (p. 53). According to the author, China went beyond simply buying oil from Brazil, but it helped transform the country into an oil power.
The book provides an analysis that helps the reader understand how Brazil and China experienced different trajectories in the evolution of their oil industries. While China initially achieved self-sufficiency in oil production, it gradually lost the ability to meet its growing domestic demand. In contrast, Brazil’s reliance on external oil supplies was dramatically reversed following Petrobras’s announcement of the pre-salt discoveries. This breakthrough transformed Brazil into a major oil exporter and significantly altered its position and importance in the global energy landscape.
The author draws his research from a combination of primary and secondary sources, from Brazilian and Chinese governmental and non-governmental entities. It presents a comprehensive structure and provides the reader with a multifaceted analysis of the China-Brazil oil relationship. Barbosa traces the historical development of both countries’ oil industries, leading to their modern-day cooperation. He delves into China’s global energy strategy and explains how Brazil became a central player in that vision. The book also offers a detailed look at the mechanisms of bilateral trade and investments that supported Brazil’s oil rapid growth, and it highlights the broader geopolitical implications of the growing Sino-Brazilian energy alliance. In doing so, Barbosa reveals how this partnership challenges and escapes the traditional dominance of Western oil-consuming nations and reshapes the global energy arena.
The author concludes by rejecting speculations about a potential decline in the China-Brazil oil trade. Instead, Barbosa argues that the current structure of their economic and energy ties, along with China’s ongoing demand for oil, suggests that this partnership is poised to endure well into the future.
However, one notable omission in the book is China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). China’s engagement and investment in Brazil not only benefited the Latin American country but also aligned with China’s broader goals of securing strategic resources essential to its economic growth and expanding its geopolitical influence. By not mentioning the BRI, the book misses an opportunity to provide a deeper context for China’s involvement in Brazil—a context that could help readers better understand the logic and motivations behind China’s long-term commitments to Brazil’s oil industry.
In summary, China, Brazil and Petroleum: The Role of China in Brazil’s Transformation into an Oil Power is a timely contribution to the field of international energy relations, and it certainly fills a gap in the research of the China-Brazil oil partnership. Barbosa’s unique perspective as both a diplomat with over 14 years of experience in the Sino-Brazilian relations, and his scholarly background brings depth and nuance to his analysis. Academics, policymakers, and industry professionals will certainly benefit from the reading, especially the ones seeking to better understand the strategic significance of China’s role in Brazil’s rise as an oil power and the lasting impact of their partnership for the South-South relations and the global energy order.
