China's CNPC buys Canadian oil firm: company

China National Petroleum Corp has agreed to buy Canada's Verenex Energy Inc, including its Libyan oil assets, in a deal worth 499 million Canadian dollars (400 million US dollars), the Calgary-based company said.

The Chinese company's international arm, CNPC International Ltd, in an all cash deal, offered 10 Canadian dollars (7.97 US dollars) per share, a 28 percent premium on the company's closing price Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange, Verenex said in a statement late Thursday.

Verenex's biggest asset is its 50 percent stake in the promising Area 47 oil field in northwest Libya, along with other assets in the vicinity.

CNPC officials were not immediately available on Friday to comment on the deal, and the company posted no statement about the transaction on its website.

The deal is the latest in a global buying spree by China, which has seen the voracious giant buy up stakes in resource companies around the world to secure supplies for its growing economy.

China Petrochemical and Chemical Corp., known as Sinopec, in December closed its two-billion-dollar deal for Tanganyika Oil, which has oil fields in Syria.

CNPC's offer still has to be approved by the Libyan National Oil Corp and Verenex shareholders owning at least two thirds of the outstanding shares, the Canadian company said.

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