Jan 3: Zai jian Sinopec?

With one stroke of his pen on Monday, President George Bush more than likely struck Chinese energy giant Sinopec from the guest book for AGIA bidders.

On November 30, Sinopec was one of four bidders who submitted  proposals to compete for the right to be awarded the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act license. Immediately following the announcement of Sinopec as an AGIA bidder, anti genocide groups voiced concerns and encouraged Governor Palin to drop the application due to Sinopec's close ties with the murderous regime in Sudan. 

The bill signed by President Bush, bill permits state, county and municipal officials to adopt measures to divest their government investments from companies involved in the four sectors that provide vital revenue for Sudan's government — oil, power production, mining and military equipment.

This comes on the heels of pronouncements by both Alaska's congressional delegation and the Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives who stated that Sinopec had no chance of getting permission to export Alaska's natural gas.  

Sinopec has long ties to governments that are off limits to American companies because they are considered to be supportive of terrorist regimes. Less than a month ago, Sinopec signed a $2 billion agreement with the government of Iran to develop the Yadavaran oil field.

On November 30 at the news conference announcing the AGIA applicants, Governor Palin touted Sinopec's strength as a company with a global reach.