CNOOC, Chesapeake close $1 bln U.S. shale deal

HONG KONG Nov 16 (Reuters) - China's top offshore oil producer CNOOC Ltd (0883.HK: Quote)(CEO.N: Quote) and Chesapeake Energy Corp (CHK.N: Quote) on Tuesday announced the completion of the Eagle Ford Shale project deal in the United States.

The completion of the deal marks a victory for CNOOC's quest for U.S. government's approval after its fauled 2005 bid for Unocal. [ID:nN11243165]

Last month, CNOOC agreed to buy a 33.3 percent interest in Chesapeake's 600,000 net oil and natural gas leasehold acres in the Eagle Ford Shale project in South Texas for $1.08 billion cash, plus a $40 million payment adjustment at closing.

CNOOC will also fund 75 percent of Chesapeake's share of drilling and completion costs of up to $1.08 billion by year-end 2012.

Analysts and bankers said the deal could mark the start of more outbound acquisitions as the Chinese company races to meet its aggressive production growth forecasts to feed the country's fast-growing economy.

The deal also comes at a time of rising tensions between the United States and China.

A huge trade imbalance has fuelled perceptions that Americans are losing jobs to China and the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill in September putting pressure on China to let its currency rise faster. [ID:nN11129508]

At 0244 GMT on Tuesday, CNOOC's Hong Kong shares were down 1.3 percent, underperforming the Hang Seng Index's .HSI 0.02 percent fall. (Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Chris Lewis)