Unocal bid pours oil on China-U.S. political fire

By Paul Eckert, Asia Correspondent

WASHINGTON, June 24 (Reuters) – Deep misgivings about China’s rising economic and political clout have helped fuel political resistance to a major Chinese oil company’s bid to buy U.S. producer Unocal, experts said on Friday.

State-owned CNOOC Ltd.’s (0883.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) $18.5 billion bid for Unocal Corp. (UCL.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Wednesday, topping Chevron Corp.’s (CVX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) roughly $16.4 billion offer, came under swift fire from U.S. lawmakers, who are calling for stringent investigations into the transaction even before a deal is reached.

The Unocal issue arises at a time of record oil prices, unease over China’s $160 billion trade surplus with the United States and an appetite in Congress to punish China with tariffs unless it revalues its currency.

Reuters