This is good stuff…

Seriously, I’m asking the questions with all sincerity towards learning. If you think it’s a good deal, then that’s fine by me.

Um, that would be Ernst & Young. I know, they’re just a bunch of hacks.

And I’ll say this — with that kind of ownership split, is there any possible way to trust the books? Who’s doing the audits? It is decidedly not where I’d want to put my money, or where I would want my company to be sold. But I’m not a share holder, so my thoughts aren’t terribly relevant anyway.

Having said that, I am sitting here in a puddle of my own sweat thanks to broke-down AC, so what the hell do I know about markets or economics?

OTOH, if they try to impose the central command, top-down management structure that would have been a given 20 years ago, all the intellectual assets will flee Unocal, and the whole thing will eventually grind to a rusting halt.

Keep in mind that the chairman of Cnooc is US-educated, and pretty savvy in the capitalist way of doing things. Also, 30% of the company is held by non-government shareholders. I just don’t think this is as black-and-white as you paint it.

Cnooc is no slouch in the awl bidness, by the way. Here’s something from the Motley Fool:

Whether the deal goes through or not, there’s a lot to like about CNOOC. Not only does the company have the nice margins and return on equity that you’d expect in the midst of an oil boom but also it has a pretty good production and reserve profile as well. Best of all, its production and finding costs are quite competitive ($9.93 per barrel and $4.68 per barrel, respectively), and that’s one of the real keys to long-term value and success.

As I say, why am I expected to give the Commies the benefit of the doubt, given their track record so far?