Based on the aggregated intelligence of 145,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, Chinese oil and gas giant CNOOC (NYSE:CEO) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at CNOOC's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

CNOOC facts

Headquarters (Founded)

Hong Kong (1982)

Market Cap

$67.8 billion

Industry

Oil, gas and consumable fuels

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$14.1 billion

Management

Chairman/CEO Chengyu Fu (since 2003)

CFO Hua Yang (since 2005)

Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years)

26.4%

Dividend Yield

3.4%

Competitors

PetroChina (NYSE:PTR)

Sinopec (NYSE:SNP)

ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM)

CAPS Members Bullish on CEO Also Bullish on

China Mobile (NYSE:CHL)

CAPS Members Bearish on CEO Also Bearish on

Citigroup (NYSE:C)

Sears Holdings (NASDAQ:SHLD)

Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 96.4% of the 1,266 members who have rated CNOOC believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include Viking70 and All-Star creek138, who is ranked in the top 2% of our community.

Just last month, Viking70 tapped the stock as a slick bet on better times ahead: "Once the world economy ramps up, the demand for oil will increase, therefore increasing the price of oil. [CNOOC] has good numbers and lower debt than its competitors."

In a pitch from the previous month, creek138 also took a top-down look at CNOOC:

China is expected to grow over [1,000%] in the next 40 years while the US is projected to grow only 300%. While most oil and gas companies will most likely not last that long, there is no doubt that the big Chinese companies will ride this wave as long as they possibly can. Buy China, and if youre looking to retire wealthy and have at least a 20 year cushion, buy safe and buy big. Relatively, there's less opportunity for catastrophic losses in these big guys, especially if you diversify among most of them, and you will still get great returns.

What do you think about CNOOC, or any other stock for that matter? If you want to retire rich, you need to put together the best portfolio you can. Owning exceptional stocks is a surefire way to secure your financial future, and on Motley Fool CAPS, thousands of investors are working every day to find them. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!