Chinese and Indian giants go head to head in search for oil.

Byline: Richard Orange

Nov. 28--Just as the western oil giants are finding the yearly struggle to replace the oil they produce harder to achieve, along comes more competition.

Acting on the orders of their political masters in Beijing, Kuala Lumpur and Delhi, Asia's oil companies are scouring the globe for oil and gas reserves to safeguard national supplies.

The International Energy Agency expects 40 percent of global growth in oil demand to come from Asia between now and 2030. By then China will need an extra 8 million barrels per day (bpd) of im