FACTBOX-Failed overseas bids by Chinese state oil firms
Wed Aug 17, 2005 5:33 AM ET
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SINGAPORE, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Chinese state companies suffered the latest blow in their attempts to acquire foreign natural resources assets after CNOOC (0883.HK: Quote, Profile, Research)(CEO.N: Quote, Profile, Research) failed in its $18.5 billion bid for U.S. oil producer Unocal Corp. (UCL.N: Quote, Profile, Research).
The following tracks the series of setbacks faced by Chinese state firms over the past three years.
(For related story, "ANALYSIS-China oil firms need more bite in foreign takeovers", please click on [nSP208959].
QENOS IN AUSTRALIA - China National Chemical Corp. suspended a plan to bid for Qenos, a petrochemical joint-venture between Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Orica Ltd. (ORI.AX: Quote, Profile, Research). The move came after it failed to secure a feedstock supply guarantee from Exxon Mobil via a future natural gas pipeline linking Papua New Guinea with Australia, a source close to the process said this month.
THAI PETROCHEMICAL INDUSTRY PCL - In July, China's state-backed CITIC Resources Holdings Ltd. (1205.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) dropped a bid for Thai Petrochemical Industry PCL (TPI.BK: Quote, Profile, Research), Thailand's largest corporate defaulter. Sources familiar with the situation cited the Thai government's unwillingness to sell the company to a foreign firm.
POGO ASSETS IN THAILAND - A Chinese consortium including state-owned China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) was in the running for Thai oil and gas assets of U.S. energy firm Pogo Producing Co (PPP.N: Quote, Profile, Research). In June, Thailand's state-run PTTEP Offshore Investment Co. Ltd. and Japan's Mitsui acquired the assets for $820 million.
NORANDA INC. - State-owned China Minmetals Corp. abandoned in March a multibillion-dollar plan to take over the large Canadian copper and zinc miner, Noranda (NRD.N: Quote, Profile, Research).
YUKOS ASSETS - China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), parent of PetroChina (0857.HK: Quote, Profile, Research)(PTR.N: Quote, Profile, Research), might get a share of Russian oil company YUKOS's (YUKO.RTS: Quote, Profile, Research) main producing assets as they were broken up, Russian officials said earlier this year. But talk of a buy-in has faded as the process became entangled with domestic mergers.
INCHON REFINERY - State-owned Chinese oil group Sinochem's $669 million bid to buy South Korea's 275,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) oil refiner Inchon failed in January.
PT MEDCO ENERGI INTERNATIONAL TBK STAKE - PetroChina was among the losing bidders last year for a stake in Medco (MEDC.JK: Quote, Profile, Research), Indonesia's largest listed oil and gas producer.
KASHAGAN BID - CNOOC Ltd. and Sinopec Corp. (0386.HK: Quote, Profile, Research)(SNP.N: Quote, Profile, Research) (600028.SS: Quote, Profile, Research) were thwarted in 2003 in their attempt to buy a BG Group (BG.L: Quote, Profile, Research) stake in Kazakhstan's giant Kashagan field. Existing partners of the project blocked the deal.
RUSSIA'S SLAVNEFT - CNPC failed in an attempt to buy into oil firm Slavneft in Moscow's biggest privatisation of 2002 due to political reasons.
CNPC's efforts to acquire small Russian oil firm Stimul have also been blocked by the Kremlin.
HUSKY INTEREST - PetroChina and CNOOC Ltd. tried in 2002 to buy tycoon Li Ka-shing's Husky Energy Inc. (HSE.TO: Quote, Profile, Research), Canada's No. 5 oil producer, but failed to agree on a price, sources said.
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