After Keystone Pipeline Failure, Canada Running to China for Crude Oil Deals

After 1949 when the Communists defeated the Nationalists for control of China, the mournful refrain from Washington, D.C. was “Who Lost China?” This arrogant display of superpower Cold War finger pointing ended with a number of careers destroyed and an unfair smear on the U.S. State Department that in some ways has never been entirely eradicated.

In today’s highly charged political climate, it will come as no surprise when some U.S. politicians come down hard on the Obama Administration for what will no doubt be described as driving Canada’s energy sector into the arms of China:

Cnooc Ltd. (883)’s $15.1 billion cash takeover bid for Nexen Inc. (NXY) signals a Canadian shift toward China and away from the U.S. as the nation’s traditional oil and natural gas partner and main export market.

Canada’s oil sands reserves, the third-largest recoverable crude deposits in the world, were developed in part by U.S. money as companies such as California’s Richfield Oil Corp. brought technology to extract bitumen from boreal peat bogs half a century ago. Now, for the first time, a Chinese company will own and operate oil sands crude production as well as Nexen’s shale gas assets in British Columbia, along with leases in other parts of the world.

Chinese oil producers have turned more frequently to Canada after political opposition in the U.S. derailed Cnooc’s $18.5 billion bid for Unocal Corp. in 2005, and after TransCanada Corp. (TRP)’s Keystone XL pipeline route south to Texas was blocked by President Barack Obama’s administration last year. 

The Nexen deal is important for two reasons. First, it potentially represents some absolution for CNOOC, which is best known in foreign investment circles as the company which botched the 2005 U.S. UNOCAL takeover, not taking into account American politics and the need for a public relations strategy. As the Nexen deal will require regulatory approval in several jurisdictions, we will see what lessons CNOOC has learned from the failed UNOCAL bid.

Second, as Bloomberg points out, the deal represents a further shift by Canada away from the U.S. towards China. Another deal involving Sinopec and Talisman Energy was announced yesterday as well, and there have been other recent transactions, including CNOOC’s takeover of Nexen partner Opti Canada.

Why is this happening? Read the entire article > "After Keystone, Canada Running to China for Oil Deals"

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Cnooc Deploys Oil Rig as Weapon to Assert China Sea Claims

China’s first deep water drilling rig began operations near an island chain in the South China Sea in a move to assert Beijing’s territorial claims as travel agencies suspended Philippines tours amid safety concerns.

Cnooc Ltd., China’s largest offshore oil producer, said its semi submersible CNOOC 981 began drilling yesterday 320 kilometers (199 miles) southeast of Hong Kong at a depth of 1,500 meters, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The area is north of the Paracel islands claimed by China, Vietnam and Taiwan.

“Large deep water drilling rigs are our mobile national territory and strategic weapon for promoting the development of the country’s offshore oil industry,” said Wang Yilin, Cnooc’s chairman, according to Xinhua. The rig would help China secure energy resources in the waters, it cited him as saying.

Competition for energy reserves in the sea has increased tensions as countries shun joint development and improve their respective naval capabilities. Chinese vessels have confronted Vietnamese survey ships over the past year and have been locked in a monthlong standoff with Philippine boats over a disputed island in another area of the sea.....Read the entire article.

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China Cashes In On Overseas Shopping Spree

The second largest energy consumer, China is quickly becoming one of the most significant energy players in the world. Increasingly in need of fossil fuels to power its burgeoning economy, China's state owned oil companies have sought to acquire oil and gas access rights beyond its borders, snapping up additional reserves that span both hemispheres. Already this year both offshore oil and gas producer China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC)and refining heavyweight China Petrochemical Corp. (Sinopec) have purchased international assets that will bulk up its already hefty cache of petroleum resources. Respectively, the two companies have acquired stakes in overseas portfolios that include blocks in West Africa and the Middle East.....Complete Story

Chinese Oil Majors Collect Stake in Angola's Block 32 for $1.3B

Marathon announced that its subsidiary, Marathon International Petroleum Angola Block 32 Limited, has entered into a definitive agreement with CNOOC International Limited (CNOOC), and Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration and Production Corporation (SINOPEC) under which CNOOC and SINOPEC will purchase an undivided 20 percent participating interest in the Production Sharing Contract and Joint Operating Agreement in Block 32 offshore Angola. The transaction has a total value of $1.3 billion, excluding any purchase price adjustments at closing, with an effective date of Jan. 1, 2009.....Complete Story

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China Steps up Buying Spree in Africa

China's oil companies, buoyed by the country's foreign exchange reserves that now top $2 trillion for the first time, are on another buying spree in Africa, further challenging the century long domination of the continent's mineral wealth by Europe's great powers. So intense is Beijing's drive for wider access to energy resources to fuel China's economic growth that its main state run oil companies are now competing among themselves. The Big Three China National Petroleum Corp., Sinopec and the China National Offshore Oil Corp. are all likely to be among the top bidders when one of West Africa's newest oil producers.....Complete Story

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