CNOOC chief eyes cooperation, not acquisition: report

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese oil producer CNOOC Ltd (0883.HK) is seeking cooperation rather than acquisitions, its president Fu Chengyu was quoted as saying on Sunday, amid talk CNOOC had set its sights on a unit of Spanish oil major Repsol.

Sources told Reuters on Friday that CNOOC was battling with CNPC, China's biggest state-owned oil firm, for approval to bid for YPF, the Argentine unit of Repsol-YPF (REP.MC), in a deal that could be worth around $17 billion.

"CNOOC's strategy is still focused on looking for cooperation rather than mergers and acquisitions," Fu was quoted as saying by the Oriental Morning Post."Our cautious stance will not change."

Repsol said on Thursday it had received several offers for a stake in its Argentine YPF unit, following a report by the South China Morning Post newspaper that CNPC was planning to revive an earlier bid and CNOOC Ltd was looking for a 25 percent stake.

The bidding is in its early stages. China's National Development and Reform Commission, which often decides which state firms will bid for foreign assets, was involved, sources close to the matter told Reuters on Friday.

In April, Fu had said his firm, an offshore oil specialist, had no plans to buy foreign firms during the financial crisis, looking instead for joint investments with foreign partners.

In another Chinese media report on Sunday, Fu appeared to complain about government interference in the running of state-owned companies, saying decisions about a company's strategy should be up to its board of directors.

"Right now the government doesn't have any policy directorate charged with making corporate decisions and it can't intervene in companies' routine strategies. State companies, both abroad or at home, should be autonomous in their operations," Caijing website quoted him as saying.

He said in his comments that the Chinese government controlled foreign exchange and when state-owned companies needed foreign currency for large-scale overseas mergers and acquisitions, it was necessary for them to apply to government departments and solicit opinions from energy officials.

CNOOC has traditionally been the most active of the big three listed Chinese oil firms in foreign deal-making, while the other two, Sinopec Corp (0386.HK) and PetroChina (0857.HK), have often deferred to their state-run parents Sinopec Group and CNPC.

CNOOC Ltd was involved the biggest setback in Chinese overseas M&A, when its $18.5 billion bid for Unocal ran into U.S. political obstacles in 2005. No Chinese company has attempted a major U.S. deal since then.

(Reporting by Tom Miles; Editing by Valerie Lee)