CNOOC denies bidding for Nigerian oil reserves

By Sui-Lee Wee and Alison Lui
HONG KONG (Reuters) - CNOOC's chairman said the Chinese offshore oil producer was not bidding for 16 licences for Nigerian oil reserves held by western oil companies.

The Financial Times reported last September that CNOOC had identified licences in Nigeria in which it would like to buy stakes, including 16 operated by Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron and ExxonMobil.

Several state-run Chinese oil firms, including CNOOC, were ready to invest $50 billion to acquire those reserves in a proposal made in June, Nigeria's presidential adviser on energy said in December. .

"There are rumours saying that CNOOC is approaching the (Nigerian) government to get 16 concessions... worth $50 billion in total," CNOOC chairman Fu Chengyu told reporters on Wednesday. "This is not what we want to do."

Those licences would allow China to acquire 6 billion barrels of Nigerian oil, equivalent to one sixth of the African country's proven reserves.

Fu said oil licences held by the western oil firms were not up for renewal. "We will not talk about assets not in government hands," he said. "It's not that we don't have an interest. The 16 concessions are in the hands of the international oil companies, not the government."

Analysts say CNOOC, which recently bought a $3.1 billion stake in Argentine Bridas Holdings, could be the most acquisitive Chinese oil company this year as it races to meet

aggressive production growth targets, underscoring China's hunger for energy resources to feed the world's fastest-growing major economy.

TULLOW DEAL

When asked whether CNOOC was bidding for a stake in the Brazilian offshore oilfield of Norwegian group Statoil, Fu declined to be specific, but said: "We are cooperating with a lot of global companies, including bidding for some of their assets".

China's oil and gas companies have announced $18.8 billion in outbound acquisitions last year, according to Thomson Reuters data.

CNOOC is in talks with Tullow Oil and Total to finalise an oil exploration deal in Uganda but the Ugandan government has not finalised the deal yet, Fu said.

"We hope there will be a good win-win solution that will come out and be approved by the government," Fu said.

Earlier this month, London-based Tullow Oil said it had agreed on a framework deal with CNOOC and French oil company Total that would see the companies become equal partners in three oil blocks.

CNOOC, the last of China's triumvirate of energy companies including PetroChina and Sinopec to report earnings, warned of rising costs after posting second-half earnings that were in line with estimates, as higher crude oil prices at the end of 2009 offset higher expenses. .