10:37AM
The CNOOC bid for Nexen: the inevitable next step in the NorthAm-East Asia energy evolution
Thursday, July 26, 2012 at 10:37AM 
Cnooc's bid is the first super-big buy into NorthAm energy (three times the Syncrude buy in 2010). It follows similar buys into Australia (Rio Tinto), Iraq-KRG (Addax) and Latam (Repsol Brazil).
Cnooc, by all accounts, learned from the failed Unocal bid and built all manner of business and personal networks before launching this bid. Lotsa regulatory hurdles on this one, but I'm betting Canada ultimately says yes, especially since Nexen's board backs it. Ottawa can't close itself off to China's resource demand and opening itself up to that flow requires some buy-back transactions like this.
Reader Comments (2)
In addition to tapping Canadian sources (an obvious need for China), the move is made to gain valuable know-how on enhanced drilling and shale gas fracking and extraction techniques, to be used at home. It's a common way (used by other foreign firms too, especially EU ones) to gain the needed know-how quickly and avoid too many years of lagging behind in experience on the same matter.
"the move is made to gain valuable know-how on enhanced drilling and shale gas fracking and extraction techniques, to be used at home." Yes and it won't work. Chinese state-run companies are innovation challenged. Chinese companies can't figure out how to remove SO2 from the exhaust at their power plants, they sure aren't going to figure out shale-oil extraction. Once you get acquainted with China's engineering capabilities you come to know they are terrible in this regard. Most 3rd world countries just get foreign companies to do things like this. China has to do everything themselves and they screw it up.