NO GUSHER: Chinese oil company CNOOC Ltd. said Tuesday that first-half profit fell 19 percent as costs rose and a big oil spill cut production. China's biggest offshore oil and gas producer, said oil and gas production fell 4.6 percent.

INTERNATIONAL REACH: The Beijing-based company, one of China's three major state-owned oil and gas producers, made news recently with its purchase of Canadian oil and gas producer Nexen.

DIVIDEND DIVERTED: CNOOC cut its dividend by 40 percent to help pay for the Nexen deal. That means it will pay out $600 million less to shareholders than it did last year.