CNOOC Ltd. history, profile and corporate video
CNOOC Ltd. operates as an investment holding company, which is engaged in the upstream operating activities of the conventional oil and gas, shale oil and gas, oil sands and other unconventional oil and gas business. The company through its subsidiaries engages in the exploration, development, production and sales of crude oil and natural gas and other petroleum products. It operates through three business segments: Exploration and Production (‘E&P’), Trading Business, and Corporate. CNOOC was founded on August 20, 1999 and is headquartered in Hong Kong.“
“Cnooc History
When the State Council implemented the Regulation of the People’s Petroleum Resources in Cooperation with Foreign Enterprises on January 30, 1982, CNOOC was incorporated and authorized to assume overall responsibility for the exploitation of oil and gas resources of offshore China in cooperation with foreign partners, which ensured monopoly status for CNOOC in offshore oil and natural gas. With its headquarters in Beijing, CNOOC registered with capital of RMB 50 billion and has more than 98,750 employees.
Unocal buyout attempt
In June 2005 a CNOOC Group company (NYSE and Hong Kong-listed public company CNOOC limited) made an $18.5 billion cash offer for American oil company Unocal Corporation, topping an earlier bid by ChevronTexaco. Unocal’s oil interests in Central Asia were considered a strategic fit for the company. On July 20, 2005 Unocal announced that it had accepted an buyout offer from ChevronTexaco for $17.1 billion, which was submitted to Unocal stockholders on August 10. On August 2 CNOOC Limited announced that it had withdrawn its bid, citing political tensions in the United States.
Despite a hands-off approach from the Bush administration, a group of Democrats and Republicans in Congress organized opposition to the CNOOC Limited bid. They argued that with $13 billion of CNOOC Limited’s bid for Unocal coming from the Chinese government, the offer was not a free market transaction. American corporations were prohibited from purchasing assets in China, and it was also argued that foreign, communist ownership of oil assets might be a regional and economic-security risk; Unocal had sensitive deep-sea exploration and drilling technology. The Economist and other sources tried to discredit the security threat, and CNOOC was willing to undergo a US security review.Congressional delays and calls for inquiry deterred the CNOOC Limited bid.
The company was advised by Goldman Sachs. CNOOC Limited had a reputation for acting independently of the Chinese government, and had not notified government officials before bidding for UNOCAL. The political backlash in the United States caused the Chinese government to increase its oversight of Chinese companies, to avoid future risks to Sino-American relations.
CNOOC Limited faces challenges in the domestic market. Its rivals, CNPC and Sinopec, have been permitted to conduct offshore exploration once monopolized by CNOOC Limited. In accordance with the commitment by the Chinese government to join the World Trade Organization, the oil market will be opened to non-Chinese companies (such asExxon Mobil and BP) by the end of 2006. CNOOC Limited’s smaller domestic competitors have been trying to break the monopoly of the three major NOCs in the industry.
Nexen acquisition
Adding 61 percent to Nexen’s July 20, 2012 stock price, on July 23 CNOOC agreed to buy Nexen for $15.1 billion (China’s largest foreign deal). The Canadian government’s Investment Canada Act was used to determine if the sale was a “net benefit” to Canada. In addition to Canadian authorities, the acquisition had to be approved by theCommittee on Foreign Investment in the United States. On 7 December the sale was approved by the Canadian government, and on February 12, 2013 it was approved by U.S. regulators.”
*Information from Forbes.com and Wikipedia.org
**Video published on YouTube by “CNOOC International“