Cnooc Ltd. (CEO) chairman Fu Chengyu said Wednesday the company has no intention to bid for all of Repsol YPF SA's (REP) stake in YPF, its Argentine unit.

Fu's denial was in stark contrast with two other people familiar with the situation who told Dow Jones Newswires earlier this month that China National Petroleum Corp. and Cnooc had proposed paying at least US$17 billion for the Argentine assets and that the three parties had met in London late last month and discussed the offer.

Fu also said global protectionism is rising, and that hinders major global mergers and acquisition from materializing.

He also said the company is still interested in a listing in China, but the timing of the listing and other details will depend on decisions of the Chinese regulators.

-By Yvonne Lee, Dow Jones Newswires; 852-2802-7002; yvonne.lee@dowjones.com