If the United States interferes in the CNOOC/Unocal deal it will do so in marked contrast to their free-market mantra.
Any attempt by the US Government to block CNOOC's bid will go against all Washington has been preaching. What is good for the MNCs is not good for China.
-Am
China ups the ante in oil battle By Loretta Ng and Wing-Car Cheng Hong Kong June 24, 2005
A Chinese producer takes on Chevron in a bid to snare overseas supplies to fuel a growing economy.
CNOOC, China's third-largest oil producer, has offered $US18.5 billion ($A23 billion) for Unocal Corp, topping the price Chevron Corp agreed to pay for the US oil and gas company.
CNOOC bid $US67 cash per Unocal share, or $US1.5 billion more than Chevron's cash and stock plan, the Beijing-based company said.
The California-based Chevron's agreement was "highly likely to close" while CNOOC faced "an extensive" regulatory process in the US, Chevron said.
The Chinese Government-run company's chairman, Fu Chengyu, is attempting the nation's biggest overseas acquisition to secure energy for China as oil trades near a record in New York.
He needs to persuade Unocal's investors that the premium over Chevron's agreed offer - about 9.4 per cent - compensates for the risk that the US Government will block CNOOC's bid.
"It's not the home run I think we were expecting and significantly below the $US20 billion" offer that some investors expected, Michael Cuggino, president of Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC in San Francisco, said.
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