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CNOOC Ltd., China's third-largest oil firm and its top offshore producer, is interested in the assets of Russian oil group YUKOS, domestic media Thursday quoted CNOOC as saying.

Chief executive Fu Chengyu said any potential deal would depend on government cooperation, because of the uncertainties of investing in Russia's opaque energy sector.

Fu visited Russia in August following CNOOC's unsuccessful bid for U.S. oil company Unocal, the Shanghai Securities News said, but it was unclear if he had met with any YUKOS officials.

The paper also did not say whether negotiations between the two parties had begun or whether Fu was interested in YUKOS's international assets, which the Russian oil group had said Dec. 1 it hoped to liquidate before the end of 2006.

"The purchase will not only depend on CNOOC's interests and ambition, but also on the Chinese Government's coordination and decision-making," Fu said.

In recent years the Russian Government has taken steps to restructure the country's energy industry into State-owned entities. Fu said he expected the trend to continue.

CNOOC had not invested in Russian oil firms previously because most of them were not listed, he said.

"But we will not give up on Russia," he said. "Beyond acquisitions, we are also exploring other avenues."