China’s top offshore oil and gas producer CNOOC Ltd, a partner in ExxonMobil’s Guyana operations is preparing to exit its businesses in Britain, Canada and the United States, because of concerns in Beijing the assets could become subject to sanctions, industry sources told Reuters.
Ties between China and the West have long been strained over trade and human rights issues and the tension has grown following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) report last week.
CNOOC International holds a 25% working interest in the lucrative Stabroek Block in Guyana’s waters. ExxonMobil is the operator with 45% interest and Hess has a 30% working interest.
CBC said that companies periodically carry out reviews of their portfolios, but the exit being prepared would take place less than a decade after state-owned CNOOC entered the three countries via a $15 billion US acquisition of Canada’s Nexen.
The assets, which encompass stakes in major fields in the North Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and large Canadian oil sand projects, produce around 220,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed), Reuters calculations found.
Last month, Reuters reported CNOOC had hired Bank of America to prepare for the sale of its North Sea assets, which include a stake in one of the basin’s largest fields.
CNOOC has launched a global portfolio review ahead of its planned public listing in the Shanghai stock exchange later this month that is aimed primarily at tapping alternative funding following the delisting of its U.S. shares last October, CBC said.
As it seeks to leave the West, CBC said that CNOOC is looking to acquire new assets in Latin America and Africa, and also wants to prioritize the development of large, new prospects in Brazil, Guyana and Uganda.
CNOOC is seeking to sell “marginal and hard to manage” assets in Britain, Canada and the United States, a senior industry source told Reuters.
