Oil firm warns of US$1.2B loss

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 oilsands assets. The Beijing-based company posted profit of 14.7 billion yuan in the same period in 2015. CNOOC decided this month to idle part of its Long Lake oilsands operation in Alberta after an explosion in January in the project’s upgrader, capping five years of problems.