ARGENTINA: China Helps Buy-Up BP's Pan American Energy For $7 Billion USD.

BLOOMBERG/
   Bridas Corp., owned by Cnooc and Argentina’s Bulgheroni family will pay BP $7.06 billion usd for the 60 percent it doesn’t already own of Pan American Energy.
    Cnooc is adding to its March $3.1 billion acquisition of 50 percent of Bridas to expand China's access to Latin American resources. Pan American is Argentina’s largest crude exporter, producing about 240,000 barrels a day with proven reserves of 1.54 billion barrels.

ARGENTINA: Chinese Spend $3.1 Billion For Oil Reserves.

BUSINESS WEEK/     Chinese oil firm CNOOC is buying a 50% stake in Argentina's Bridas Holdings giving it a foothold in Latin America's potential oil reserves. Cnooc believes the purchase will add 318 million barrels of reserves, an increase of about 12 percent, and also boost its average daily production by 46,000 barrels.  Oil expert Neil Beveridge says "the assets Cnooc is buying are relatively mature, which will lower the price. But I estimate the fields could be in production for about 18 years, which isn’t bad.”

China Close To Buying Oil Leases In Gulf Of Mexico.

NYTIMES/
Cnooc, a Chinese oil company, is close to buying stakes in a few drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico from a Norwegian company. The deal would include about 20 of StatoilHydro’s 451 leases in the Gulf of Mexico.
“By dipping their toe, they are attempting to see if it’s politically safe to get into our waters,” said Larry Goldstein, a director of the Energy Policy Research Foundation. “There’s still a hangover from Unocal.”