Companies

Rpt says CNOOC on talks to buy BP Argentine stake

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-07-02 16:56

China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), the country's third-largest oil and gas company, declined to comment on reports it is in talks to buy as much as $9 billion worth of BP Plc's assets in South America.

"We don't comment on market rumors," Jiang Yongzhi, a Beijing-based spokesman for CNOOC, said by phone on Friday.

The State-owned Chinese energy company has expressed an interest in buying a 60 percent stake BP owns in the Argentine oil and gas producer Pan American Energy, The Guardian reported on Thursday, without saying where it obtained the information.

Sheila Williams, a London-based spokeswoman for BP, declined to comment on Thursday about the talks which were also reported by Sky News.

BP is looking to raise money to help pay for the clean-up operation in the wake of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, The Guardian said. CNOOC already owns 20 percent of Pan American through its stake in Bridas Corp, the UK daily newspaper reported.

Related readings:  CNOOC bags oilfield deal in Iraq  CNOOC, Sinochem said to bid on Statoil Brazil field  CNOOC buys 50% of Bridas Energy subsidiary  BP spill nears a somber record as Gulf's biggest

Michael Zhao, a spokesman for BP in Beijing, didn't immediately respond to calls.

BP last month promised to set aside $20 billion for the cleanup and compensation for the spill, and it said it will sell assets to raise funds after canceling the dividend for three quarters.

The company's share price has dropped 50 percent since the April 20 blowout on the Deepwater Horizon rig that killed 11 and started the worst oil spill in US history. The stock gained 2.8 percent yesterday to 327.95 pence.

State-controlled Chinese energy companies have spent at least $20 billion buying oil and gas assets overseas in the past 12 months to meet increasing demand in the world's fastest-growing major economy.