China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), the country's
largest offshore oil producer, has acquired China National Chemical
Construction Corporation (CNCCC).
The merger - announced on Sunday by the state-owned Assets
Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) - will enable
CNOOC to sharpen its competitiveness by capitalizing on CNCCC's
skills in fertilizer production, chemical research, engineering
design and international trade, according to Fu Chengyu, CNOOC
general manager.
CNOOC is China's third largest oil company. Having focused on
oil and natural gas exploration and production, it has been trying
to expand into oil refining, petrochemicals and international
trade.
By the end of 2005, the company had 191. 4 billion yuan
(US$23.93 billion) in assets, and a sales volume of 88.9 billion
yuan (US$11.25 billion).
CNCCC, also a state-owned enterprise (SOE), had assets worth 2.7
billion yuan (US$341.7 million) and a sales volume of 4.2 billion
yuan (US$531.6 million) as at the end of 2005.
As major restructuring and mergers continue, China's SOE numbers
have decreased from 198 in April 2003 - when the SASAC was
established - to 165 this year.
More efforts are needed to further consolidate the SOE sector in
order to relocate resources in a more efficient way, sources with
the SASAC said.
(Xinhua News Agency October 23, 2006)