CNOOC seeks fortune in the west with Nexen takeover
China’s bid to buy Canadian producer Nexen has met with a cautious reponse
China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) is involved in the country’s richest foreign takeover attempt yet – a deal that encapsulates the company’s ambitions, but also the challenges it faces in its headlong global expansion. Seven years after it failed to buy US producer Unocal, on 23 July CNOOC announced plans to take over Canadian producer Nexen Energy. CNOOC Ltd has agreed with Nexen management to acquire the company for approximately $15.1 billion. Some pundits expressed surprise that CNOOC is willing to put its reputation on the line so soon after its high-profile, embarrassing failure to acquire Unocal. The Unocal deal was scuppered in 2005 in a rare example of Congressional bi
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