CNOOC, the mainland's largest offshore oil and gas producer, is considering an about US$450 million bid for Royal Dutch Shell's 16.67 per cent stake in an Australian oil production project, according to market sources.
Royal Dutch Shell, the largest oil company in Europe, is interested in selling its stake in the Cossack Pioneer oil project, which pumps 100,000 barrels a day from the fields in the North West Shelf region.
CNOOC has hired Macquarie Group, Australia's largest investment bank, to arrange the potential bid, a source said. Macquarie and CNOOC declined to comment.
Global oil giants including BP and Chevron along with Australia's second-largest oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum, BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company, and a Japanese joint venture between Mitsubishi and Mitsui also hold stakes in Cossak Pioneer.
The Asia-Pacific region is one of two areas where CNOOC wants to build its core business, chief financial officer Yang Hua has said.
In July, CNOOC strengthened its footprint in Australia by securing a permit to explore in the Bonaparte Basin, off Western Australia.
The US$2.6 billion acquisition of 45 per cent stake in the Akpo oil field in Nigeria in April last year is the only major foreign foray since CNOOC's failed bid for US-based peer Unocal Corp in a deal worth US$18.5 billion in 2005.