Cnooc Won't Bid For OGX Assets

Cnooc CEO, China's largest offshore oil explorer, will not bid for a stake in Brazil's OGX Petroleo & Gas Participacoes SA, the company controlled by billionaire Eike Batista. Cnooc, China's third-largest oil producer, was previously believed to be interested in OGX assets, but will not bid in order to avoid a clash with Sinopec SNP, Asia's largest refiner. The companies were rumored to be mulling $7 billion bids for OGX assets in September. Cnooc is already active in South America through its majority control of Argentina's Bridas Corp. OGX has yet to start producing oil.