HONG KONG, June 17 (Reuters) - China's third largest oil group, China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), is set to announce a counter-offer to trump Chevron Corp.'s (CVX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) $16 billion bid for Unocal Corp. (UCL.N: Quote, Profile, Research) , a local newspaper reported on Friday.
CNOOC's board will meet in the next two weeks to make a final decision and is expected to approve a bid, the South China Morning Post said, quoting unidentified sources.
A source familiar with the situation told Reuters, "this is a process and no decision has been made."
The newspaper said CNOOC, the parent of listed CNOOC Ltd. (0883.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) (CEO.N: Quote, Profile, Research) , was expected to offer a premium of up to 10 percent on Chevron's US$16.4 billion cash and shares offer as an inducement to Unocal's shareholders.
Shares in CNOOC were down by 2.34 percent at HK$4.175 on Friday, compared with a 0.48 percent gain in Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index .
If a deal is clinched, it would be biggest ever overseas purchase by a Chinese firm, dwarfing Lenovo Group's (0992.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) US$1.25 billion takeover of IBM's (IBM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) global personal computer business, the paper said.
Sources said CNOOC had secured financing from mainland and foreign banks and was in talks with several international investment firms for the possibility of them taking a strategic stake in the venture aiming for taking over Unocal.
CNOOC is interested in acquiring Unocal because its oil and natural gas assets in Asia fit CNOOC's aspirations to become a major regional liquefied natural gas (LNG) player.
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