US natural gas and oil company Unocal Corp. said on Wednesday it intended to evaluate an 18.5- billion-US-dollar merger proposal from the China National Offshore Oil Ltd (CNOOC).

Unocal, which has already agreed to be acquired by Chevron Corp. , said it received a proposal from CNOOC Ltd. to acquire all outstanding shares of Unocal for 67 dollars per share in cash.

In a statement posted on its website, Unocal said it intends to evaluate the merger offer from CNOOC "in a manner consistent with the board's fiduciary duties and its obligations under the Chevron agreement."

On April 4, 2005, Chevron Corp., the second largest US oil company, offered to acquire Unocal in a choice of 65 dollars a share in cash, 1.03 shares of Chevron stock, or a combination of stock and cash.

The earlier offer was priced at 16.6 billion dollars, lower than that of the CNOOC.

"In connection with entering into the Chevron merger agreement, the Unocal board of directors recommended the transaction to Unocal stockholders. That recommendation remains in effect," Unocal said.

The company said there can be no assurance that the proposal would result in a definitive agreement with CNOOC.

Source: Xinhua