Credit crunch? Tell that to China and India

While everyone else is warring about a global recession, major Chinese and Indian oil companies have quietly gone about their business in beefing up their overseas asset portfolio to meet their future domestic demand requirements.

In late September, China's Sinopec Corporation pipped India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation in the race to pick up Syria-based Tanganyika Oil for $1.93 billion. Tanganyika Oil, which has exploration and production assets in Syria and Egypt, has a primary listing in Toronto and listed depositary receipts in Stockholm.

Just a month earlier in August, ONGC beat Sinopec for control of a relatively small London-listed oil firm producing in Russia, Imperial Energy, for $2.5 billion.

During September, another oil company, China Oilfield Services Ltd. announced that it completed the acquisition of Norway's Awilco Offshore ASA for $2.51 billion. China Oilfield Services Ltd is the listed arm of China National Offshore Oil Corporation, or CNOOC.

Next up in the race for oil assets... Iran.

ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of ONGC, is believed to be holding talks with the Iranian government for exploring an oil block in the northern part of the country. Coincidentally, Sinopec is also believed to be in talks for the block.

But watch out, China may not only be interested in oil assets. Armed with a gigantic armor of foreign exchange reserves in the tune of nearly $2 trillion, China could well start its global shopping spree for other types of investments.

Last year, China set up a sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corporation, with a stake of $200 billion.

The rest of China’s foreign exchange reserves are held by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), which has been conducting low-profile, small-scale equity investment around the world.