The House of Representatives was scheduled to vote, and will probably approve, a measure that would block the US Treasury from spending any money on any activity that would further the attempt by China National Offshore Oil Corp. (actually, it’s parent firm CNOOC Ltd.) to buy California mini-major Unocal.

Near as I can tell, they have not yet voted (no shock there). But the effort was being lead by two House Democrats, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Carolyn Kilpatrick, an African American Democrat who represents Michigan’s 13th district, which includes part of Detroit and environs. (An interesting team…)

In a floor debate this afternoon, Kilpatrick said CNOOC’s bid should be blocked because China could get ahold of Unocal’s deepwater drilling technology that could be used to perform and/or hide underground nuclear tests.

This is the second time I’ve heard a national security claim tied to deepwater drilling technology this week. Earlier it came from an anonymous source. It’s funny, on the face of it, and seems laughably absurd, and she’s probably merely repeating someone’s really foolish talking point.

But what if Kilpatrick just revealed something about nuclear testing that we didn’t know? I mean, if deepwater drilling can aid nuclear tests, and help mask them, has someone in the “five-sided asylum” been giving this thought? Have any nuclear weapons been tested deep offshore? Or are these tests being planned?

Probably not, but I don’t know. CNOOC’s bid for Unocal’s oil and gas fields in Southeast Asia, Bangladesh and Azerbaijan are part of an effort by China to secure supply, an old-fashioned “we must physically control the resources to have access” that will lead to Chinese imperialism. The Chinese have decided, unfortunately, that they don’t believe in the market. No shock there. But then neither does the US government. Or, for that matter, Chevron. So I don’t really care one way or the other who controls Unocal.

However, I do believe Unocal shareholders have the right to sell their shares to whomever they want, either for CNOOC’s cash or Chevron’s cash-and-share offer. A government ban on this, for whatever reason, would deprive Unocal shareholders of that right.

Maybe vit would be all for the best. There are other uses for deep water, deep drilling technology. After all, we wouldn’t want the Chinese getting to the Earth’s core first, you know…

The Best of Charles H. Featherstone