China's CNOOC Exits U.S. Offshore Oil and Gas

 

British energy company Ineos has completed a planned acquisition of the U.S. Gulf assets of Chinese state oil major CNOOC. The purchase gives Ineos non-operated interests in Shell's Appomattox platform and Hess' Stampede platform, along with several mature assets and supporting business units. Reuters reports that the transaction price came to about $2 billion.  

“This is a major step for us into the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, which builds on our growing energy business. INEOS Energy is all about competing in the energy transition to provide reliable, affordable energy to meet world demand as the population continues to grow. And progressing carbon storage projects," said Ineos CEO David Bucknall in announcing the deal last year. 

The deal is Ineos' third substantial investment in the U.S. energy market in three years, alongside an LNG deal with Sempra and the acquisition of shale oil assets in Texas in 2023. 

The sale is part of CNOOC's move towards exiting the U.S. domestic market, motivated in part by geopolitical risk. In 2022, as relations between the U.S. and China grew increasingly strained, CNOOC reportedly floated plans to extricate itself from Canada, Britain and the United States, according to Reuters. 

The Chinese oil company remains an important U.S. partner abroad: it holds a 25 percent stake in Exxon's Stabroek Block development off Guyana, a keystone of Exxon's future development.