CNOOC Ltd. (0883.HK), China’s state-owned offshore oil producer, has agreed to acquire oil-sands company Opti Canada (OPC.TSE) for US$2.1 billion in cash and debt, Bloomberg reported. A shortage of cash to fund the extraction of heavy oil from its sand reserves forced the Calgary-based company to seek bankruptcy protection on July 13. CNOOC will pay US$34 million in cash for Opti Canada’s shares, pay US$1.18 billion for notes, and assume US$825 million of debt, the Canadian company said in a statement. CNOOC has spent more than US$13 billion on acquisitions abroad in the past five years, data from Bloomberg shows, in a bid to boost its reserves and diversify its holdings. CNOOC paid US$158 million in 2005 for a stake in MEG Energy Corp (MEG.CVE) that gave it access to oil-sand reserves and technological expertise that may help with tapping such deposits in China.