Super-scrutiny for CNOOC deal

If CNOOC were to acquire the California-based energy company Unocal, the ensuing US national security review would be the most rigorous and controversial in the 17-year-old history of the Inter-agency Committee on Foreign Investments, the Financial Times reported Thursday, citing legal and security experts. But US Treasury Secretary John Snow called it "premature" for the committee to begin a review before a deal was concluded. Separately, FT reported that Chevron, passed over for now in its Unocal bid, is drumming up opposition to the CNOOC deal. Citing public filings, the report said some congressional representatives opposed to CNOOC's US$18.5bn Unocal bid have received campaign contributions worth a collective US$100,000 from Chevron since 2002.