US thwarting CNOOC bid

A key US congressional committee voted late Monday to a 141-day delay in a government review of state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp's (CNOOC's) bid to acquire US oil company Unocal, Reuters reported. The vote by a House-Senate conference committee is bad news for CNOOC, because the protracted delay would put CNOOC's $18.5bn all-cash Unocal bid on hold, making the bid's prospects uncertain. The mandated government study would examine which US energy assets have been acquired by Chinese companies and whether those companies receive government subsidies. One senator justified blocking the deal on the basis that no outside interest "in a million years" could buy a controlling interest in a Chinese oil and gas firm.