Two weeks ago, our company, CNOOC Ltd., extended a friendly, all-cash offer to Unocal's board of directors. After being invited to engage in dialogue with Unocal earlier this year, we entered detailed negotiations regarding a possible merger. We have made our offer because Unocal's asset base fits our business extremely well--70% of its oil and gas reserves are close to Asian markets where we operate. We are listed on the New York and Hong Kong stock exchanges and have fiduciary obligations to all of our shareholders. We believe this merger will offer our shareholders, which include many leading U.S. institutional...
