Glancy Binkow & Goldberg LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, on behalf of purchasers of CNOOC Limited American Depositary Shares between January 27, 2011 and September 16, 2011, inclusive, seeking to pursue remedies under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. CNOOC, through its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, production and sale of crude oil, natural gas and other petroleum products. The Company owns oil and natural gas properties in Asia, Oceania, Africa, the Americas and offshore China – including the Penglai 19-3 (“PL19-3”) oilfield situated in northern China’s Bohai Bay.
The Complaint alleges that defendants misrepresented or failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company’s business and financial results, including that: (i) the Company was not in compliance with environmental laws and regulations; (ii) the Company concealed the extent and severity of oil spills that occurred at the PL19-3 oilfield in June 2011; (iii) as news of the oil spills emerged, the Company downplayed its responsibility to effect the cleanup of the oil spills, portrayed itself as being the “non-operator” of the oilfield and, moreover, hindered the cleanup by requiring the operator of the oilfield to use a CNOOC-affiliated company for the cleanup; (iv) the Company improperly accounted for its contingent liabilities in violation of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”); and (v), based on the foregoing, defendants lacked a reasonable basis for their positive statements about the Company’s operations and its expected oil production.
No class has yet been certified in the above action. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. If you purchased the ADSs of CNOOC between January 27, 2011 and September 16, 2011, you have certain rights, and have until April 29, 2012 to move for lead plaintiff status. To be a member of the class you need not take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice or take no action and remain an absent class member.
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