Singapore

WHILE there's a risk of crude sliding below US$30 as demand is displaced by alternative energy, it will still be needed for making petrochemicals, said the head of the enigmatic Chinese company that last month bought a US$9 billion stake in Rosneft Oil Co.

In a note running longer than 12,000 Chinese characters posted on CEFC China Energy Co's WeChat account, founder and chairman Ye Jianming justified purchasing a chunk of the Russian firm from Glencore Plc and Qatar's sovereign wealth fund - a deal that's thrust the previously little-known firm into the global spotlight. He also riffed on everything from his nation's history and philosophy to the future of fossil fuels and electric vehicles.