Cnooc's undersized 30-year bond attracts huge interest

Chinese offshore oil and gas company Cnooc closed a $2 billion dual-tranche bond early on Thursday morning, amassing the biggest order book ever generated for a Chinese company in the international bond markets.

Cnooc is a high-quality borrower, rated Aa3 by Moody’s and AA- by Standard Poor’s, which is on par with China’s sovereign ratings and, as such, investors were clamouring for its paper. The deal attracted a total of $17 billion worth of orders from investors, with the 10-year tranche attracting $7.5 billion of demand and the 30-year tranche attracting $9.8 billion of demand.

However, despite the mammoth demand for the longer tranche, the issuer...