Sinopec to bid for assets of US gas producer Chesapeake

Sinopec Group, China’s second largest oil and gas producer, may launch a bid for billions of dollars worth of assets owned by US gas producer, Chesapeake Energy (CHK.NYSE), Financial Times reported. Fu Chengyu, Sinopec’s chairman, traveled to Oklahoma this week as his company conducted due diligence on the assets, said people familiar with the situation. By bidding for assets rather than Chesapeake itself, Sinopec may be looking to avoid a backlash like the one that prevented CNOOC (CEO.NYSE, 0883.HKG) from purchasing Unocal in 2005, bankers and oil executives said. Chesapeake is seeking to unload its assets, including 1.5 million acres of land in the Permian Basin region of west Texas and New Mexico that analysts say could be worth US$6 billion or more, after being hit hard by low natural gas prices in the US.