CNOOC vows to honor environmental commitments

CNOOC vows to honor environmental commitments

Tim Molloy, Associated Press/Los Angeles

A spokesman for China's state-owned CNOOC Ltd. pledged that the
company would uphold environmental and worker protection
commitments if the company's bid for Unocal Corp. is successful.

The comment came in response to a letter on Wednesday from
state attorneys general in California, Texas, Montana and New
Mexico that expressed concern about CNOOC's US$18.5 billion
takeover bid last month for the El Segundo-based oil company.

Their letter pressed Unocal President Joseph Bryant for
details on whether Unocal would uphold promises to clean up
several polluted sites in the four states. They also asked for
assurances that retired Unocal employees would not lose their
pensions or health care plans.

CNOOC spokesman Mark Palmer said in an interview on Wednesday
that the attorneys general should not be concerned.

"CNOOC would be honored to abide by all of the laws of the
United States and the states in which it would have operations
were its offer for Unocal to be accepted, and that includes,
certainly, environmental and worker protection laws," Palmer
said.

Tom Dresslar, a spokesman for California Attorney General Bill
Lockyer, said CNOOC's statement was no guarantee it would meet
Unocal's commitments.

"It's better than telling us to take a hike," he said, but
added, "There's a difference between promising to obey state and
federal law and providing assurances that the obligations to
clean up contaminated sites are fulfilled."

Unocal spokesman Mike Thacher said he did not know if the
company had officially received the letter and could not commit
on it.

The letter from the attorneys general said Unocal has
estimated the cost of fulfilling its environmental cleanup
responsibilities at $771 million.

American politicians have warned that CNOOC's effort could
pose risks to U.S. national security and called for a full review
by the Bush administration. The Chinese company's officials have
welcomed a security review and denied that CNOOC was acting on
behalf of China's government, which is in the midst of a
multibillion-dollar campaign to secure foreign oil and gas
supplies to power its booming economy.

CNOOC is bidding against San Ramon, California-based Chevron
Corp. for Unocal, the ninth-largest U.S. oil and gas firm. The
Chinese firm has argued that its offer is more generous for
Unocal shareholders and would result in fewer job losses.