China's third largest oil producer CNOOC, says it will not raise its bid to take over the US oil company Unocal for the sake of protecting its shareholders' interests.

China National Offshore Oil Corporation, or CNOOC made the statement on Thursday.

Earlier on Wednesday, Unocal's board of directors recommended that shareholders accept a 17 billion US dollar takeover offer by larger oil producer Chevron Corporation.

In the email statement sent to CRI, CNOOC says it regrets that Unocal did not take up its offer and that it will continue to monitor the market.

CNOOC added that it considers its full-cash offer of 67 US dollars per share is still superior, even after Chevron raised its bid.

According to the latest news from the Unocal website, Chevron raised its offer late on Tuesday to 63 US dollars per share made up of 40 percent in cash and 60 percent in stock.

CNOOC last month proposed a merger with Unocal, offering 18.5 billion US dollars in total for Unocal's shares.

Source: CRI news