China's business press carried the following stories on Friday. China.org.cn has not checked the stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

CNOOC, Sinochem in bid for Brazil oil field - National Business Daily

China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and Sinochem Group have submitted separate bids for a 40 percent stake in Brazilian oil field Peregrino owned by Norwegian state oil company Statoil ASA (STO), the National Business Daily reported today, citing unnamed sources from the Chinese oil companies.

The transaction may be worth over US$2.5 billion, according to the newspaper.

Back in March, domestic media carried reports that four of China's major oil companies - CNOOC, Sinochem, CNPC and Sinopec Group - had participated in the bidding for the Peregrino project. STO required potential buyers to submit formal bids before April 15. In the end, CNPC and Sinopec stayed out of the contest.

CNOOC and Sinochem declined to give further details, saying that the deal is currently under negotiation.

The Peregrino oil field is located in the BM-C-007 block in the Campos Basin 85 kilometers off Rio de Janeiro. It's estimated to contain recoverable reserves of 460 - 500 million barrels.

Shanghai city bank revives IPO plan - Beijing Business Today

The Bank of Shanghai, a city commercial bank in China, has revived its mainland listing plan and will present the plan for review by shareholders on May 28, the bank said yesterday in a statement filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Things have not gone smoothly since the bank first launched its IPO plan on June 3, 2008, despite the fact that in quality of assets and profitability it is in the front rank of domestic city commercial banks.

"There are too many uncertainties concerning the Bank of Shanghai's IPO," said an industry insider.

There were market rumors back in 2007 that Pudong Development Bank planned to acquire the Bank of Shanghai as part of a plan to go public on both the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock markets. But the plan failed. Another factor is that the bank has more minority shareholders than IPO rules allow. At the end of 2008, individual investors held 24.28 percent of issued shares.

"We have a sense of urgency with our IPO plan," said the bank's board chairman Ning Liming at the 2009 annual shareholder meeting.

At the end of 2009, the Bank of Shanghai had total assets of 466.04 billion yuan, up 26.73 percent year-on-year. It made a 3.62 billion yuan net profit last year, up 17.73 percent from a year earlier. Its capital-adequacy and non-performing loan ratios stood at 10.29 percent and 1.59 percent respectively. All these figures fulfill the requirements of China's securities regulator.

People close to the matter told the newspaper that the bank will schedule its IPO after the Agricultural Bank of China goes public.

China's CIC, Canada's Penn West to form oil JV - China Securities Journal

China Investment Corp., the country's sovereign wealth fund, announced Thursday night that it has signed an agreement with Penn West Energy Trust on a joint venture to develop a heavy-oil project in the Peace River area of North Alberta in Canada, China Securities Journal reported Friday.

CIC will invest 817 million Canadian dollars to acquire a 45-percent stake in the JV. CIC also agreed to buy 23.52 million units of Penn West for 435 million Canadian dollars. After the deal, CIC will hold 5 percent of Penn West's issued units.

Penn West is one of the largest oil and gas income trusts in Canada.

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