CNOOC may bid for Kazakhstan oil company
(Dow Jones)
Updated: 2006-01-13 09:24

HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--Chinese offshore oil producer CNOOC Ltd. (CEO) may bid for a Kazakhstan oil company just days after it announced a US$2.3 billion plan to acquire offshore oil and gas assets in Nigeria, The Standard reports.

Citing sources familiar with the situation, the paper said CNOOC is considering an offer for Nations Energy, an independent oil producer that is Kazakhstan's ninth-largest oil company. The company was valued last month at about US$2 billion, the sources said.

Citigroup is advising CNOOC, while Credit Suisse is advising Nations, the paper says. Both banks declined to comment.

The move comes just days after China's largest offshore oil producer by production announced the acquisition of a 45% stake in oil and gas fields owned by Nigerian oil company South Atlantic Petroleum.