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Chinese Oil Producer Makes Bid For Unocal
A tanker truck passes a California refinery for Chevron, which has offered to by Unocal for less than CNOOC's bid.
(By Paul Sakuma -- Associated Press)
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The FTC approved the Chevron-Unocal deal this month after Chevron promised not to enforce a patent on reformulated gasoline that the FTC said could have increased gas prices in California by more than half a billion dollars a year, or almost 6 cents a gallon.
The approval settled a two-year-old legal fight between Unocal and the FTC.
Chevron noted that a deal with CNOOC would require extensive new regulatory approvals in the United States and elsewhere.
Chevron said it expected Unocal shareholders to vote on its offer sometime in August.
CNOOC's chief financial officer, Yang Hua, said his company is "prepared to closely cooperate . . . to get U.S. approval for this deal," according to Dow Jones Newswires.
CNOOC said it plans to retain "substantially all employees, including those in the U.S," noting that Chevron plans layoffs.
The Chinese company said it planned to finance the transaction from its cash resources of more than $3 billion and loans from banks, including bridge loans from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., and its majority shareholder, state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp.
Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan are advising CNOOC on the deal.
Shares of Unocal rose about 2 percent Tuesday on rumors that CNOOC was considering a bid. The stock rose 1 cent to close at $64.86 Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange, then rose as much as 39 cents in after-hours trading.
