AFTER 11 months of often painful negotiations, China Oilfield Services, a subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), finally announced on July 7th that it had agreed to buy Awilco, a publicly listed Norwegian oil-services company, for $2.5 billion.
Last year, Congress saw off the yellow peril from China, whose CNOOC oil company dared to bid for America's Unocal (though most of Unocal's oil and gas reserves happened to be outside America).
This week further evidence emerged that if America isn't interested in Canada's mucky tar sands, China is.On July 23rd CNOOC, a Chinese state-owned oil giant, announced it had reached a $15 billion deal to buy Nexen, a Canadian energy firm with big holdings in tar sands and expertise in drilling for shale gas, another unconventional hydrocarbon.
See articleA subsidiary of CNOOC, a Chinese oil producer, agreed to buy Awilco, a Norwegian oilfield-services company, for $2.5 billion.
Imports this year are expected to account for one-third of consumption of about 1.5 billion barrels.Royal Dutch/Shell has finalised a joint venture worth $4.3 billion with China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), China's third-biggest oil company, for production of ethylene.
After weeks of rumours linking Unocal with Italy's ENI and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), Chevron revealed on April 4th that it had bought Unocal for $18 billion.In this section Europe's coming merger boom A curious delay Wrong number?
See articleThe European Parliament approved free-trade agreements between the European Union and Colombia, Peru and six Central American countries.Canada's Conservative government finally approved a $15.1 billion bid by CNOOC, a state-owned Chinese oil company, for Nexen, a tar-sands producer.
There are also plenty of reasons for China to be annoyed with America: Americans have been too willing to demonise successful Chinese companies such as Huawei or CNOOC.
Concerns about excessive dependence on foreign fossil fuels sharpened when China's oil imports rocketed and, in 2005, the attempt by CNOOC, China's largest offshore oil and gas company, to buy America's Unocal was rebuffed.
China's CNOOC has offered $18.5 billion, topping a $17 billion bid from America's Chevron (which has nonetheless won the backing of Unocal's board).
Last year, CNOOC, a state-controlled Chinese oil firm, scuttled away from Unocal, an American company it had hoped to buy, after opposition to the deal in Congress reached fever pitch.
