CNOOC warns of 8b yuan loss amid oil sands writedown

Hong Kong

CNOOC Ltd, China's biggest offshore oil and gas producer, projected about US$1.2 billion in first-half losses, flipping from a profit a year ago, as it took a charge on its Canadian oil sands assets. Shares fell in Hong Kong on Friday.

The Beijing-based company expects to report a loss of about eight billion yuan (S$1.6 billion) for the first six months of the year, compared with profit of 14.7 billion yuan in the same period in 2015, the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Thursday. It would be 's first half-year loss since 2000 when it began trading, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.