Those trillions of dollars we've borrowed from China and then shipped back to China to pay for all of our stuff? China's using them to buy other things, like energy.

The latest move? A $17 billion bid for a majority stake in Argentinian oil giant YPF.

Will Argentina allow the deal to happen?

We'll see. But if it doesn't, you can bet China will just go buy something else.

Aries Poon, WSJ: China National Petroleum Corp. and Cnooc Ltd. have proposed paying at least US$17 billion for all of Repsol YPF SA's stake in YPF, its Argentine unit, two people close to the talks said.

China National Petroleum Corp. and Cnooc Ltd. have proposed paying at least US$17 billion for all of Repsol YPF SA's stake in YPF, its Argentine unit, two people close to the talks said.

The potential deal, which could be the biggest overseas investment by China, highlights the country's growing thirst for energy resources globally and its willingness to offer big money for access. It also underlines the ambition of CNPC to build up its presence in South America and elsewhere.

A deal would be another example of how Chinese companies are now working together to buy foreign energy assets after years of working alone.

Read the whole thing >

The stake is being sold by Spain's Repsol, which needs to sell assets to pay down debt. The latter sounds familiar.

The WSJ has a nice chart of all the energy assets China has gobbled up in the past two years >