US investors drive pricing on $4 billion Cnooc bond

China National Offshore Oil Cnooc, the mainland’s third-biggest oil and gas company, closed the largest dollar bond from an Asian borrower in a decade early Friday morning.

The $4 billion multi-tranche deal out-sized Sinopec’s recent $3.5 billion bond, which printed just two weeks ago, and was also the biggest dollar bond to be issued by a Chinese state-owned enterprise.

China has a thirst for natural resources and energy assets, and companies that have been busy making acquisitions offshore are now turning to the bond markets to pay down loans. Cnooc is just the latest example, having agreed late last year to buy Canada’s Nexen for $15.1...