Chevron accused of politcal smearing on CNOOC bid

Sources close to the China National Offshore Oil Corporation’s bid to buy Unocal are charging that Chevron, also in the bidding to buy the California-based energy company, is orchestrating opposition to the bid because it is less expensive to raise political issues around the deal than it is to increase its own bid for Unocal.

In support of these contentions, an organization called the Center for Responsive Politics has gathered data that raises questions of conflict of interest in relation to a number of congressmen who have signed letters that call the CNOOC bid into question. A Republican congressman who wrote a letter raising concerns about the CNOOC bid has received $13,500 in contributions from Chevron, according to that organization, while over half the members of congress who have signed a letter of opposition to the sale are said to have received campaign contributions from Chevron.

The latter letter claims that a sale to CNOOC could pose a threat to the national security of the United States. Opponents claim, among other things, that if Unocal is sold to the Chinese company, China would gain access to technology that could be used by their military. Sources close to Chevron have denied charges that they are behind the protests against CNOOC’s bid for Unocal and repeated Chevron’s belief that its bid is the superior offer for the oil company.