If at first you don't succeed, bid again. That seems to be the motto of CNOOC, the Chinese oil major that has just launched a fresh bid for Unocal of the US. Indeed, it did so yesterday after weeks of speculation much of which centred on divisions within CNOOC's board of directors as to whether the bid made sense.
After commissioning an independent assessment from NM Rothschild, the CNOOC board voted to up its bid even in spite of the fact that the Chevron offer for Unocal had reached such an advanced stage CNOOC would be forced to pay a $500 million indemnity to Chevron if it succeeded...
