cnooc bid for hdr? Hi Blackscorpion,Interesting idea. My theory...

cnooc bid for hdr? Hi Blackscorpion,

Interesting idea. My theory is a little different. The Chinese oil company, CNOOC, has instructions from the Chinese government to increase its reserves and has been given a blank cheque to do so. I think CNOOCs takeover bid for US oil giant Unocal will get rejected by congress. CNOOC will realize that a takeover of Woodside or other large energy company will also face too many political problems.

With a pocketfull of cash, and a desire to expand, they will lower their sites to...HDR. A takeover of HDR would be accepted by the Australian govt. They get their foot in the door in Mauritania and Guyana. Their management would get some practice at the takeover and integration processes.

Woodside would need to agree since they have a 10% blocking stake. I think they would say yes. Having China involved in Mauritania would give deeper pockets for future development and reduce the political risk. With Chinas diplomatic clout supporting the Chinguetti project the chance of the Mauritanian government playing games would be reduced.

The recent burst in HDRs shareprice is probably the usual pre drilling frenzy, but it could also be the insiders positioning themsevles ahead of a bid. We will see.