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China to raise coal output, open 'super' mines

China's net oil imports up 18 percent
China's net imports of crude oil rose 18.1 percent in the first eight months of the year as the booming country's voracious energy demands continued to grow, state media reported on Sunday. Net imports reached 108.2 million tonnes from January to August, Xinhua news agency said, quoting figures from the General Administration of Customs (GAC). The world's second-largest oil importer, China has seen its demand for energy rocket as a result of its explosive economic growth, which has been in double digits for four consecutive years. It has been a net importer of oil since 1993 and imported 138.8 million tonnes of crude in 2006, up 16.9 percent from the previous year. Imports last year accounted for 47 percent of the country's overall consumption, and industry observers have warned imports might make up more than 50 percent of China's petroleum needs in a year or two. Chinese demand has been identified as at least partly responsible for currently high oil prices.
by Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) Oct 5, 2007
Energy-starved China will boost coal output by 400 million tonnes a year by 2010 by streamlining the industry and opening a string of new "super" pits, state media reported Friday.

Widespread closures and mergers will leave fewer than 20 firms, including six to eight new "super coal production enterprises' with a yield of 100 million tonnes each, accounting for more than 50 percent of the country's entire output by 2010, Xinhua news agency said.

China reported a total coal output of more than 2.3 billion tonnes of coal last year.

Small mines that are illegal or inefficient and have given the industry its appalling safety record are already being weeded out, Wang Xianzheng, deputy director of the State Administration of Work Safety, was quoted as saying.

Over the last two years, more than 9,000 small mines have been shut and another 1,000 will close by the end of 2007, Xinhua said.

As part of the streamlining process the country plans to build 10 large strip-mines with a production capacity of 10 million tonnes each and another 10 pits with a yield of 10 million tonnes each, Wang said.

China's coal mines are among the most dangerous in the world, and many of the accidents occur in small, unlicensed mines where safety regulations are widely ignored.

More than 4,700 coal miners died in China last year, according to official figures, but independent labour groups put the real toll at closer to 20,000 annually. They say many accidents never come to light.

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Analysis: Nigeria wants militant back
Miami (UPI) Oct 4, 2007
The Nigerian government has called for Angola to return a militant leader captured last month and detained on weapons-trafficking charges so he can face trial, Nigerian news sources reported Wednesday.







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