CNOOC finds new target, wards off Russia
CNOOC<883><CEO>, China’s largest producer of offshore crude oil and natural gas, is targeting Africa’s Caspian Sea and Asian Pacific regions for its acquisition plans, instead of Russia, where the company sees a potentially higher risk.
Despite a rapid growth in Russia’s oil output, CNOOC may not have the capacity to develop in the region yet. With regards to this issue, CNOOC’s chief financial officer Yang Hua said that, “Acquisitions have to be a value creation for the company, CNOOC is still small today and Russia is a big-boy game.”
With a fast growing economy in China, the country is the world’s largest energy user after the U.S. The International Energy Agency estimates China’s oil demand to surge by 5.4% to 7.5 million barrels a day in 2007.
A leader of oil and gas exploration and production in China, CNOOC has stepped up to raise production amid rising domestic consumption. Recently, CNOOC announced that it has discovered 10 new oil and gas sites in China, where 9 sites were founded independently. In addition, the company also announced that Platform C of Phase II of Penglai ( PL) 19-3 has come on stream successfully.
Its Hong Kong shares closed at HK$ 13.92 yesterday, and traded at HK$ 13.88 as of 12:30pm Hong Kong time today.
Tags: CNOOC, Gas, oil