By Gou Xinyuyulin
Published: 2007-07-20

For the media, the government has also been more open-minded. Qin Linhui says, “If you want to know the true history of the dispute, feel free to stop by.”

Qin says that the biggest problem now is finding an arbitrator. “Who’s to say what compensation is high and what is low?”

“We want to respect history and face the facts,” he continues. He says that some people believe that there should be a new round of compensation, but that this is very irrational. The first and second rounds of compensation were different because the oil well’s circumstances were different. Some investments were simple, some were exceedingly complex. Each block has different pricings due to depth, production. He says it was all based on the facts and the market

Differences in the Rounds of Compensation is the Crux of the Dispute 

According to one private oil investor, after the government seized the wells in June of 2003, they only compensated 20 percent of their value, and all signed agreements to that were forced. At that point, investors of 39 of the wells did not sign on, and they subsequently enjoyed 100 percent compensation when they eventually did. There is suspicion that these investors had government backgrounds.

“Our demands are very simple: We want compensation according to the standards used for those 39 wells,” says Qi Fengfei, investor representative.

“This time the government really came around and started to discuss compensation with the investors. Before, the moment people started to discuss this there were arrests,” says Guo Haiyan. He hopes that the government can start compensations quickly, as there are over 6,000 people without means of survival who have a stake in the process.

Yanchang Takes Over 

According to understanding, by the end of this past May, senior officials from Yulin City and Chanbei Yanchang Oil held talks, where Yulin City formally requested that the firm take responsibility for the compensation and dealing with the aftermath of the incident. In attendance were the city’s secretary-general, the mayor, vice-secretary general, vice-mayor, along with Shen Hao, the newly appointed director of the firm, and four executives from drilling companies. Yanchang has already promised to establish a body to deal with the incident.

Shaanxi Yanchang Oil Group was re-organized in 2005, producing 9.2 million tons of oil. It is China’s fourth largest oil company and the leading contributor to Shaanxi’s tax revenues, with sales last year of 40.2 billion yuan, more than half of which went to taxes.

On June 11, one investor visiting Yanchang’s headquarters in Xi’an was told that they still hadn’t received information, and whether or not to compensate rests on what the provincial government decides.

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