Nexen deal sees US hobble CNOOC in Gulf fields
CNOOC's purchase of Nexen includes about 200 deep-water leases in the Gulf. The company surrendered operating control of them to quell US national security concerns.
CNOOC, China's largest offshore oil and natural gas producer, has been barred from controlling Gulf of Mexico oilfields under the terms of its US$15 billion takeover of Canadian firm Nexen.
Nexen controlled platforms in the near-shore West Delta oilfield within 80 kilometres of the US Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base at Belle Chasse, Louisiana, southeast of New Orleans.
The requirements contrast with approvals for state-owned companies including Norway's Statoil and Brazil's Petroleo Brasileiro to control drilling and production in the Gulf.
Nexen said on February 12 it had received approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States for its takeover by CNOOC.
The "most significant" term of CNOOC's agreement with the American committee was its transition from operator to non-operator, Peter Addy, the president of Nexen's US unit told staff.