Cnooc Ltd

The California Public Employees' Retirement System and the California State Teachers' Retirement System, the largest and third-largest U.S. pension funds, should oppose CNOOC Ltd.'s bid for Unocal Corp., state Controller Steve Westly said. Westly, who sits on the boards of both funds, sent letters to other members urging them to vote against an acquisition of the El Segundo-based oil company by China's CNOOC. Westly said a union of the two posed a threat to U.S.

Shares of China National Offshore Oil Corp. have taken a hit as the fallout from a pair of June oil spills continues to weigh heavily on the company's performance. By Tuesday's close in Hong Kong, the state-owned oil giant's stock was down more than 10% since the start of the week. The decline comes amid growing criticism about the handling of oil spills in China's northeastern Bohai Sea by CNOOC's partner, ConocoPhillips. The U.S. oil company operated two platforms in an offshore oil field named Penglai 19-3, where an estimated 3,200 barrels of crude oil and drilling fluids were released into the sea in early June.

China's CNOOC Ltd. has called off talks with Chevron over buying liquefied natural gas from Chevron's Australian Gorgon project, CNOOC said. Senior Vice President Cao Yunshi did not say why discussions ended, but sources said last year that talks between China's top offshore oil firm and Chevron had stalled over pricing. Chevron has a 50% interest in the Gorgon project, with the balance split equally between Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell.

A Chinese company's gambit to drill for oil in U.S. territory demonstrates China's determination to lock up the raw materials it needs to sustain its rapid growth, wherever those resources lie. The state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp., or CNOOC, reportedly is negotiating the purchase of leases owned by the Norwegian StatoilHydro in U.S. waters in the Gulf of Mexico, the source of about a quarter of U.S. crude oil production. China's push to enter U.S. turf comes four years after CNOOC's $18.5-billion bid to buy Unocal Corp.

Shareholders blocked a plan by CNOOC Ltd., China's third-largest oil producer, that would have allowed its parent to compete for overseas oil and gas acquisitions. At a meeting Sunday, 59% of independent shareholders, representing 2.87 billion votes, voted against the plan, the company said. CNOOC drew worldwide attention, and opposition from U.S. lawmakers, with its unsolicited bid in June for Unocal Corp. Chevron Corp. of San Ramon, Calif.

Chinese state-controlled oil company CNOOC Ltd. said Monday that it agreed to pay $2.3 billion for a 45% stake in a Nigerian oil field in its first major investment since its failed bid to take over Unocal Corp. last year. The deal adds to a multibillion-dollar string of foreign acquisitions by Chinese oil companies, which are aggressively pursuing energy supplies to fuel China's booming economy.

Three leaders in the congressional campaign to discourage Chinese oil company CNOOC Ltd.'s acquisition of Unocal Corp. accepted campaign contributions from rival suitor Chevron Corp. in recent weeks, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. Rep. Richard W. Pombo (R-Tracy), Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.) have been among the most vocal on Capitol Hill in criticizing CNOOC's proposed deal as anti-competitive and a threat to national security.

Two California congressmen have urged the Bush administration to thoroughly review any bid by China's CNOOC Ltd. to acquire Unocal Corp., a letter made available Monday said. CNOOC, China's third-largest oil group, has said it is considering a counteroffer to try to trump Chevron Corp.'s $16-billion bid for El Segundo-based Unocal.

Unocal Corp. was ready to brave a political fight and accept a buyout offer from China's CNOOC Ltd. last week, but instead endorsed rival suitor Chevron Corp. after CNOOC refused to sweeten its bid, Unocal said Monday. The showdown over Unocal unfolded over several days in mid-July, the El Segundo-based oil company said in a regulatory filing, revealing that its board favored the $18.

Executives from Chinese oil company CNOOC Ltd. will meet this week in New York with takeover target Unocal Corp. and may consider sale options for some of Unocal's U.S. assets to try to ease political tensions over its unsolicited bid. More than 40 U.S. lawmakers have urged the Bush administration to closely scrutinize the Chinese company's $18.5-billion offer for El Segundo-based Unocal.

China's CNOOC Ltd. has called off talks with Chevron over buying liquefied natural gas from Chevron's Australian Gorgon project, CNOOC said. Senior Vice President Cao Yunshi did not say why discussions ended, but sources said last year that talks between China's top offshore oil firm and Chevron had stalled over pricing. Chevron has a 50% interest in the Gorgon project, with the balance split equally between Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell.

Chinese state-controlled oil company CNOOC Ltd. said Monday that it agreed to pay $2.3 billion for a 45% stake in a Nigerian oil field in its first major investment since its failed bid to take over Unocal Corp. last year. The deal adds to a multibillion-dollar string of foreign acquisitions by Chinese oil companies, which are aggressively pursuing energy supplies to fuel China's booming economy.

Shareholders blocked a plan by CNOOC Ltd., China's third-largest oil producer, that would have allowed its parent to compete for overseas oil and gas acquisitions. At a meeting Sunday, 59% of independent shareholders, representing 2.87 billion votes, voted against the plan, the company said. CNOOC drew worldwide attention, and opposition from U.S. lawmakers, with its unsolicited bid in June for Unocal Corp. Chevron Corp. of San Ramon, Calif.

China's biggest state-owned oil firm has reached an agreement to buy a major oil producer in neighboring Kazakhstan for $4.2 billion -- a victory in Beijing's campaign to secure foreign energy supplies for its booming economy. The proposed acquisition of PetroKazakhstan Inc., a Canada-based company, by a unit of China National Petroleum Corp., comes three weeks after another Chinese oil company, CNOOC Ltd., dropped its bid for Unocal Corp. amid opposition from U.S. politicians.

CNOOC Ltd.'s withdrawal Tuesday from the bidding for Unocal Corp. lifts the pall of uncertainty that had hung over the California oil company's worldwide workforce for months, leaving workers distracted, anxious and ripe for poaching by headhunters and rivals.

The Chinese oil company battling to buy Unocal Corp. abandoned its effort Tuesday because of what it termed "regrettable and unjustified" U.S. political opposition, ending a showdown that spotlighted American concerns about energy security. The decision by CNOOC Ltd., largely owned by the Chinese government, to drop its $18.5-billion bid for Unocal clears the way for Chevron Corp. to acquire the El Segundo-based company in a deal currently valued at $17.5 billion.

CNOOC Ltd.'s $18.5-billion takeover bid for Unocal Corp. has been dealt a setback by a congressional vote delaying the approval of any deal, but the Chinese oil company is far from out of the race to scoop up the U.S. oil and gas producer, market observers say. Late Monday, a U.S. Senate-House conference committee finalizing a broad energy bill voted to approve a delay of as many as 141 days in a Bush administration review of CNOOC's bid for Unocal.

Four state attorneys general told Unocal Corp. on Wednesday that they were "deeply concerned" that a proposed deal between the oil company and China's CNOOC Ltd. could endanger environmental cleanup projects. California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer, along with the top law enforcement officers of Montana, New Mexico and Texas, sent a letter to Unocal President Joseph H. Bryant seeking assurances that Unocal would continue to pay for cleanup at Unocal waste sites in their states.

Chevron Corp.'s bid to buy Unocal Corp. got a boost Monday when an influential shareholder advisory firm said a competing offer from CNOOC Ltd. wasn't high enough to offset the political uncertainties surrounding the Chinese company's proposal. Since CNOOC launched its rival bid June 22, the company's effort has been dogged by worries that political opposition from Washington could delay or block any deal it struck to buy the oil company.

Chevron Corp.'s standing in the battle for Unocal Corp. took a hit Friday when investors reacted to a tepid earnings report from the nation's No. 2 oil company by driving its stock price down and lopping $160 million off the value of its takeover bid. Unocal, meanwhile, disclosed in a regulatory filing that its top eight executives would collect a buyout package that could be worth almost $109 million. The total amount of the award, which would be paid by Chevron or rival bidder CNOOC Ltd.