China National Offshore Oil Corporation Limited (CNOOC), which has a stake in the Stabroek Block, says that it plans to raise US$5.41 billion to fund several key oil and gas projects including the Payara oilfield in Guyana.
Reuters reported on Monday that CNOOC plans to issue no more than 2.6 billion shares in the Chinese currency, or about 5.82% of company’s share capital, the firm said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange late on Sunday.
The funds will be used to finance key projects such as the Payara oilfield in Guyana, its first wholly owned deepwater gas project Lingshui 17-2 and oilfield Liuhua 11-1/4-1, both in the South China Sea.
“We see the A-share initial public offering as a reasonable move for CNOOC to maintain its fast pace of production growth amid difficulty in overseas financing due to the U.S. sanctions,” Daiwa said in a research note.
Reuters noted that China’s policy to encourage more domestic listing is another driver for this fundraising plan, according to a Beijing-based industry official.
In February, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) began the process of delisting CNOOC, and in March it suspended trading in the company’s American depositary receipts.
The NYSE action was taken to comply with an investment blacklist introduced under former President Donald Trump, which bars Americans from investing in Chinese companies that the U.S. says aid China’s military, intelligence and security services.
CNOOC said in March it had appealed the NYSE delisting decision, and in its first-half financial report published on Sept. 1, it said the review was in progress.
In May, China’s three big telecom carriers lost their own appeals against being delisted. One of the three, China Telecom Corp., has since raised 47.9 billion yuan, or about $7.4 billion, from a Shanghai share sale, while larger rival China Mobile Ltd. is preparing a similar offering.
