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BEIJING - Chinese state-controlled oil company CNOOC Ltd. said Monday it is paying $2.3 billion for a 45 percent stake in a Nigerian oil field in its first major investment since its failed bid to take over Unocal Corp. last year. The deal adds to a multibillion-dollar string of foreign acquisitions by Chinese oil companies, which are aggressively pursuing energy supplies to fuel China's booming economy. The agreement, which requires approval from the Nigerian and Chinese governments, covers a deep-water area of the oil-rich Niger Delta region, CNOOC said. It said the area includes the Akpo oil field discovered in...

India says Goldman Sachs helped China's CNPC bid for PetroKazakhstan - report10.16.2005, 10:08 PM BEIJING (AFX) - India has accused Goldman Sachs of presiding over an auction for the PetroKazakhstan oil group marred by a 'lack of propriety and transparency' and where the rules were changed mid-way through to help a state-controlled Chinese oil group, the Financial Times reported, citing an interview with Mani Shankar Aiyar, India's petroleum minister. 'The Indian bid was easily highest and the matter should have been closed,' Aiyar was quoted as saying. 'I'm sick and tired at the lectures we are given by the west...