Five of the six partners are behind the move, but analysts say it would be unwise for investment-hungry China to hit back
The blocking by foreign oil companies of CNOOC's plan to buy into a lucrative oil and gas field in Kazakhstan is unlikely to trigger major retaliatory moves by Chinese oil companies, analysts say.
Revenge would not be in the Chinese firms' interests, as the know-how and technologies of international firms benefit both sides in their China joint ventures, they said. The fact that multiple shareholders of the project had exercised their pre-emption rights also made retaliation less feasible.
All but Japan's Inpex among six companies eligible to pre-empt CNOOC's purchase of an 8.3 per cent stake in the North Caspian Sea project - billed as the world's largest oil and gas discovery in the past three decades - have exercised their right, a Royal Dutch/Shell source said.
Despite CNOOC's best lobbying efforts, the decision was taken as the deadline, of midnight last Friday, neared.
In addition to Shell, the other four companies exercising their pre-emption rights are ExxonMobil, France's TotalFinaElf, United States-based Conoco Philips and Italy's ENI.
