A deal would mark the latest in a recent string of foreign takeovers by China's oil players, including Sinopec's $7.2 billion bid for Addax Petroleum.
Chinese state oil companies have been tasked with securing energy supplies to fuel the country's fast-growing economy. They have been prepared to pay prices for assets which Western oil companies are unwilling to match, and to invest in locations where political risks deter their Western peers.
While
