Cnooc Bids for Unocal

Cnooc - pronounced "see-nook" - has made an all-cash bid of $67 per share (plus a $500 million breakup fee to Chevron and the assumption of Unocal's $1.6 billion in debt) for Unocal. Some interesting tidbits about this bid:

Cnooc is 70% owned by the Chinese government. So, essentially, you have the Chinese government making a bid for a US company.

ExxonMobil's CEO Raymond Lee said it would be "a big mistake" if the US were to block this deal. "You have to have free trade," Mr. Raymond said during an appearance at an energy summit sponsored by Reuters. Although I agree with him, it's easy for Mr. Raymond to say this since it isn't his company also making a bid for Unocal.

I'm sure this will be an interesting story to watch.

Tags: Cnooc, Cnooc Ltd.