CNOOC Limited Announces Pricing of Guaranteed Notes Offering

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May 02, 2013, 08:35 ET

HONG KONG, May 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- CNOOC Limited (the "Company", NYSE: CEO, SEHK: 00883) announced on May 2, 2013 (New York time) the pricing of its offering of US$4,000 million aggregate principal amount of guaranteed notes. The offering consists of US$750 million of 1.125% guaranteed notes due 2016, US$750 million of 1.750% guaranteed notes due 2018, US$2,000 million of 3.000% guaranteed notes due 2023 and US$500 million of 4.250% guaranteed notes due 2043 (collectively, the "Notes"). The Notes will be issued by CNOOC Finance (2013) Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, and will be guaranteed by the Company.

(Logo: http://www.prnasia.com/sa/200701301659.jpg )

The net proceeds from this offering are expected to be approximately US$3,942 million. The proceeds are intended to be used mainly to repay part of a US$6.0 billion short-term credit facility that was entered into for the purpose of financing the Company's recent acquisition of Nexen Inc.

Application has been made to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for listing of, and permission to deal in, the Notes. Listing of the Notes on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is not to be taken as an indication of the merits of the Notes, the Company or CNOOC Finance (2013) Limited.

Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited, Bank of China Limited, BOCI Asia Limited, BofA Merrill Lynch, China International Capital Corporation Hong Kong Securities Limited, Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and UBS AG, Hong Kong Branch are acting as joint lead managers and joint bookrunners for the offering.

CCB International Capital Limited, ICBC International Securities Limited, Scotia Capital (USA) Inc. and Societe Generale are acting as co-managers for the offering.

The offering of the Notes is made pursuant to an effective shelf registration statement filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on May 1, 2013. Copies of the prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus may be obtained from CICC US Securities, Inc, 350 Park Avenue, 28th Floor, New York, New York 10022, telephone: 1-646-794-8800; Citigroup Global Markets Inc., c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, New York 11717, telephone: 1-800-831-9146; Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Eleven Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10010-3629, telephone: 1-212-325-2000; Prospectus Department, Goldman Sachs & Co, 100 Burma Road, Jersey City, New Jersey 07305, telephone: 1-866-471-2526 / 1-212-902-1171; J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, 383 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10179, telephone: 1-212-834-4533; Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, 222 Broadway, 11th Floor, New York, New York 10038, telephone: 1-800-294-1322; or Fixed Income Syndicate, UBS Securities LLC, 677 Washington Boulevard, Stamford, Connecticut 06901, telephone: 1-203-719-1088.

This document does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any of the Notes, nor will there be any sale of the Notes in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

Notes to Editors:

CNOOC Limited along with its subsidiaries (the "Group") is an upstream company specialized in the exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas. The Group is a dominant oil and natural gas producer in offshore China and is also one of the largest independent oil and gas exploration and production companies in the world in terms of reserves and production. More information about the Company is available at http://www.cnoocltd.com.

This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding expected future events, business prospectus or financial results. The words "expect", "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "objective", "ongoing", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe", "plans", "intends" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These statements are based on assumptions and analysis made by the Company in light of its experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that the Company believes reasonable under the circumstances. However, whether actual results and developments will meet the Company's expectations and predictions depends on a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause the actual results, performance and financial conditions to differ materially from the Company's expectations, including those associated with fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas prices, the exploration or development activities, the capital expenditure requirements, the business strategy, whether the transactions entered into by the Company can complete on schedule pursuant to its timetable or at all, the highly competitive nature of the oil and natural gas industries, the foreign operations, environmental liabilities and compliance requirements, and economic and political conditions in the People's Republic of China. For a description of these and other risks and uncertainties, please see the documents the Company has filed from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including 2012 Annual Report on Form 20-F filed on April 24, 2013.

Consequently, all of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements. The Company cannot assure that the results or developments anticipated will be realized or, even if substantially realized, that they will have the expected effect on the Company, its business or operations.

For further enquiries, please contact:

Ms. Michelle Zhang
Deputy Manager, Media / Public Relations
CNOOC Limited
Tel: +86-10-8452-6642
Fax: +86-10-8452-1441
E-mail: [email protected]

Ms. Angela Hui
Ketchum Newscan Public Relations Ltd
Tel: +852-3141-8091
Fax: +852-2510-8199
E-mail: [email protected]

SOURCE CNOOC Limited