The rating on CNOOC Ltd. reflects the company's strong stand-alone credit profile and our opinion that there is an "extremely high" likelihood that the government of China (AA-/Stable/A-1+;cnAAA/cnA-1+) will provide sufficient and timely extraordinary support to CNOOC Ltd. in the event of financial distress. We assess CNOOC Ltd.'s stand-alone credit profile as 'a', reflecting our view of the company's "strong" business risk profile and "modest" financial risk profile. CNOOC Ltd. is the core operating subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC; AA-/Stable/--; cnAAA/--), which is one of three wholly government-owned oil companies in China. In accordance with our criteria for government-related entities, our view of an "extremely high" likelihood of extraordinary government support is based on our assessment of
