"Never heard of it," Fu told Reuters when asked whether CNOOC had been offered the assets by the European firm, as the Australian newspaper had reported on Thursday, without citing sources.
BEIJING (Reuters) - China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) <CEO.N> president Fu Chengyu said on Saturday he knew nothing about a reported deal for Royal Dutch Shell Group's <RDSa.L> oil assets in Australia's North West Shelf oil and gas project.
"Never heard of it," Fu told Reuters when asked whether CNOOC had been offered the assets by the European firm, as the Australian newspaper had reported on Thursday, without citing sources.
The Chinese government-owned offshore oil explorer already has a 5.3 percent stake in North West Shelf exploration permits, production licenses and related reserves.
Hong Kong's South China Morning Post newspaper cited an unnamed source saying that CNOOC <0883.HK> had hired Australian investment bank Macquarie to arrange the potential bid.
!ADVERTISEMENT!Representatives for both companies have declined to comment on the reports.
(Reporting by Zhou Xin; Editing by Michael Urquhart)
