Mar. 6, 2007 (China Knowledge) – China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) <CEO> <883>, the country's third-largest oil producer, plans to issue A-shares rather than through the Chinese Depositary Receipt system to raise capital in China’s market in 2007, said a CNOOC official to the China Securities Journal on Monday.

The official also said that with good market conditions, 2007 is a good timing to issue an A-share IPO. He declined to reveal more details, saying they will be disclosed before the IPO.

CNOOC said last month that its total investment in 2007 is expected to exceed US$3.6 billion, up 19% year-on-year. More than 20 projects will start operation in the next few years, including several oil blocks in coastal waters. Also, five projects will begin operations this year.

According to a Dow Jones Newswires report today citing an unidentified CNOOC executive, CNOOC saw its worldwide output fall 1.3% last year. The company’s output fell to 220 million barrels. It said no reason was given for the decline, but noted that CNOOC was forced to shut down one of its biggest oil fields in southern China due to damage from Typhoon Chanchu in May.