--FILE--View of the headquarters of CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Corporation) in Beijing, China, 26 February 2013. Cnooc Ltd., Chinas biggest offshore oil and gas explorer, posted a better-than-estimated 7.9 percent increase in first-half profit as rising output helped counter higher costs, including at unit Nexen Inc. The shares advanced the most in 19 months. Net income rose to 34.38 billion yuan ($5.6 billion), or 0.77 yuan a share, from 31.87 billion yuan, or 0.71 yuan, a year earlier, Cnooc said in a statement yesterday. That compared with the 30.25 billion yuan median estimate of eight analysts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Nexen, a Canadian oil company Cnooc bought earlier this year for $15.1 billion in Chinas biggest overseas acquisition, contributed about 0.5 percent to profit, even as its output accounted for 13 percent of the Chinese companys total. Cnoocs net production in the period rose 23 percent to 198.10 million barrels of oil equivalent, according to the statement.
