China, bidding for Chesapeake Energy assets?

From the Financial Times:

Sinopec, the Chinese oil and gas group, is considering bidding for billions of dollars worth of assets owned by Chesapeake Energy, the US gas producer.
Fu Chengyu, head of Sinopec, was in Oklahoma in the US this week in connection with the company’s due diligence on the Chesapeake assets, according to people familiar with the move.
By buying assets rather than making a bid for the company itself Sinopec hopes to minimise the sort of political backlash that forced Cnooc to drop its $18.5bn bid for Unocal in 2005, bankers and oil executives say. Chesapeake Energy has been hit hard by low natural gas prices in the US and is in the midst of an asset disposal programme to help reduce its debt; while its shares have fallen 25 per cent from their March peak.
Mr Fu’s vision is to shift Sinopec’s focus to upstream oil and gas production, where margins are higher. “The Achilles heel of Sinopec is the lack of oil and gas reserve growth upstream while being too dependent on downstream refining,” says analyst Gordon Kwan of Mirae Asset Securities. “Among the three national oil companies, Sinopec’s balance sheet is the weakest,” he adds.