Chinese Oil Giant in Takeover Bid for U.S. Corporation

Now her's something you can be sure has the neocons full attention. Many feel that a great deal of US behaviour in Afghanistan and Iraq can be traced back to the proposed Unocal pipeline that is being projected to run through those very areas.

"Chinese Oil Giant in Takeover Bid for U.S. Corporation By DAVID BARBOZA and ANDREW ROSS SORKIN Published: June 23, 2005 SHANGHAI, Thursday, June 23 - One of China's largest state-controlled oil companies made a $18.5 billion unsolicited bid Thursday for Unocal, signaling the first big takeover battle by a Chinese company for an American corporation. The bold bid, by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation ( CNOOC), may be a watershed in Chinese corporate behavior, and it demonstrates the increasing influence on Asia of Wall Street's bare-knuckled takeover tactics. Seventy-three percent of Unocal's natural gas reserves are in Asia; this platform is in the Gulf of Thailand. The offer is also the latest symbol of China's growing economic power and of the soaring ambitions of its corporate giants, particularly when it comes to the energy resources it needs desperately to continue feeding its rapid growth."