A boss at Chinese oil producer CNOOC has now confirmed that several bids have been made for its UK North Sea assets.

The company says it is open to discussions with potential buyers interested in taking over the operations, which include a big stake in the huge Buzzard field.

It is thought that a disposal could bring in up to £2.8billion.

There has been speculation for months now that CNOOC is set to exit British waters.

But chief financial officer Xie Weizhi said late last week that that the company is not in a rush to exit the basin, and any sale would depend on an attractive valuation for its shareholders.

He added that, while CNOOC had received several bids for its North Sea assets and is willing to have further discussions for a potential sale, the company's vision is to have a broad global upstream presence.

Willing to talk

"Regarding UK assets, we are not under pressure to exit, but we are willing to talk if there is a good opportunity."

He revealed in a media conference call for CNOOC's latest results that Norway's Equinor as well as other oil firms had shown interest in buying the UK North Sea operations.

"As an upstream company, we are keen to have a global layout to sustain our exploration and development business. We won't restrict our assets within a specific region nor pursue exits from any specific region," said the chief financial officer.

Analysts say it would be a good window for CNOOC to optimise and restructure its overseas portfolio as crude prices have been at multi-year highs amid the Russia-Ukraine war.

Energy Voice says Equinor has declined to comment on any move for the UK assets.

Analysts have previously suggested that Harbour Energy, NEO Energy, Waldorf Production and Ithaca Energy could all be likely contenders.

Western sanctions

In April it was claimed that CNOOC was preparing to exit its operations in Britain, Canada and the US because of concerns in Beijing that operations in these countries could become subject to Western sanctions.

CNOOC entered the North Sea in 2013 when it acquired Nexen for £9.4billion in what was at the time the largest foreign business takeover by a Chinese company.

CNOOC is operator of the Buzzard, Golden Eagle and Scott assets in UK waters.

Buzzard is one of the basin's top producing fields. First oil began to flow in 2007 and to date it has produced more than 800million barrels. It is expected to continue operating beyond 2040.

Last November, Buzzard Phase II, a subsea development of the Buzzard northern area, commenced production.

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