Weeks after the state-controlled oil company bought Nexen for $15 billion, its executives were in Calgary with a blunt message for the Canadian company, which had struggled for years to extract crude from the oil sands in the Alberta wilderness. Cnooc Chief Executive Li Fanrong told staffers Nexen provided just 2% of Cnooc’s profits, say attendees, warning that “2% is not enough.” Two years later, Cnooc is still trying to fix Nexen, its troubles compounded by low crude prices. And now Cnooc must explain an oil spill: This month, a pipeline Nexen installed last year ruptured, spilling nearly 31,500 barrels of a mixture of crude oil, wastewater and sand in northern Alberta. Nexen’s chief executive, Fang Zhi, on Wednesday stood by the oil-spill site near the hamlet of Anzac. “It is very disappointing that this has happened,” he said, the scent of petroleum wafting. “I therefore personally apologize.” Buying […]