Taking advantage of a worldwide oil boom, China Oilfield Services has agreed to buy Norway’s Awilco Offshore for 12.7 billion kronor. While still pending approval from the Norwegian Competition Authority, it will be interesting to see if Norway scuttles the deal, as the US did similarly to Unocal in 2005 when the Big Red Machine CNOOC tried taking that over (it was eventually sold to Chevron).

China Oilfield Services Ltd., a unit of the nation's third-biggest oil producer, agreed to buy Norway's Awilco Offshore ASA for about 12.7 billion kroner ($2.49 billion) to create the world's eighth-largest rig fleet.

China Oilfield will pay 85 kroner a share in cash for the operator of oil and gas drilling rigs, according to a statement today. The offer by the unit of China National Offshore Oil Corp. is 19 percent more than the closing price of Awilco's shares on July 4. Awilco surged as much as 17 percent to a record in Oslo trading today.

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