Attached to China National Offshore Oil Corporation, CNOOC Ltd announced on July 3 that it has filed a notice with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), requesting it to review its acquisition plan for Unocal Corp, Xinhua quoted CNOOC as saying.

CNOOC Ltd has made its all-cash offer to buy Unocal Corp, said Yang Hua, CNOOC's chief financial officer. Once it has an opportunity to proceed with a CFIUS review, CNOOC is confident that it will be able to obtain Exon-Florio clearance by addressing the Committee's concerns. We are looking forward to a formal review conducted in an expeditious manner.

This filing gives CNOOC the opportunity to comply with all US rules and regulations in an open and transparent manner, and to fully discuss its proposal, Yang said of the notice. Once all the facts are known, and the commercial purpose and terms of the transaction are fully understood, many initial wrong impressions will be corrected, and many doubts and questions will be favorably resolved.

According to sources, if the CFIUS requests Unocal to answer the related issues about the deal, Unocal should make a reply within the next seven days, in line with the CFIUS rules and regulations.

CNOOC is the largest producer in China for the exploitation of offshore petroleum and gas resources, and also one of the largest independent oil-gas exploiting and manufacturing enterprises in the world. CNOOC has established main business sectors, including oil and gas exploration, development, production and sales.

By People's Daily Online