Moving the needle?(FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF)

Publication: Oil and Gas Investor

Publication Date: 01-AUG-05

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COPYRIGHT 2005 Hart Publications, Inc.

The line that separates market factors from political ones has gotten blurred indeed. By the time you read this, the bidding war over Unocal's Asian assets may have concluded, but the contest raises important issues, whatever the outcome.

Was it a sign of the maturation and sophistication of a Chinese E&P company led by a CEO who trained at USC, or the first volley in an economic cold war for the 21st century?

Opponents said CNOOC's intent to buy Unocal was a political move funded indirectly by a government (a communist one at that), not a commercial move. Not fair, they said. Strategically--maybe even militarily--too dangerous, they said.

But it made sense. Unocal provides only 1% of U.S. energy...

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