China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) would bid about 20 billion US dollars in cash for US oil major Unocal Corp., beating Chevron Corp's 16 billion dollars takeover offer, New York-based Bloomberg Business News reported on Tuesday.

CNOOC would offer about 71.50 dollars a share, or 10 percent higher than a bid made by the US company Chevron on April 2. It was also 8 percent higher than Unocal's closing share price yesterday.

CNOOC, China's third-largest oil group, had a market value of about 22.5 billion dollars while Unocal had a market value of about 17.25 billion dollars.

CNOOC needed to move quickly on its bid for Unocal because the US Securities and Exchange Commission is poised to approve the disclosure documents on Chevron's bid. The Federal Trade Commission approved Chevron's takeover plan on June 10..

Unocal has gas and oil reserves in Thailand, Indonesia and Central Asia. The US giant has more than 6,000 employees, with most of its activities in Asia and North America. It has no refining or marketing operations.

Source: Xinhua