2006, January 9

The state-run oil company bought a 45% stake in the license covering the OML 130 field, which is in deep water near the Niger Delta. The deal should help China meet the rapidly growing demand for oil and gas. This is one of several Chinese attempts to tab into overseas oil and gas resources. In 2005 CNOOC failed to buy US firm Unocal as US lawmakers staged an unprecedented campaign against the deal. Now that China is making deals with oil-rich dictatorial regimes all over the world, US politicians may realize that they may have "shot themselves in the foot" when they opposed China's Unocal aquisition.

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