Shareholders of energy company Unocal Wednesday approved a $18 billion (Rs.78 billion) takeover bid by Chevron, just a week after Chinese state-owned corporation CNOOC withdrew its bid due to opposition in the US.

In a statement, Unocal said 77.2 percent of eligible shareholders backed the buyout, with just 2.6 percent opposing. Of those who voted, 96.6 percent approved the deal.

Unocal is the world's ninth largest oil company and has valuable reserves of oil and gas in Asia. The approval of its sale to Chevron came after a higher bid by CNOOC had caused a political furore in the US amid fears of a US-Chinese rivalry for shrinking global energy reserves.

"It really became a platform in my mind for much more complex and greater China-US issues than just CNOOC and Unocal," Unocal chairman and CEO Chuck Williamson told the shareholders. "We did not anticipate that."

Chevron touted the benefits of its deal because it had already won regulatory approval. The combined companies will produce the equivalent of 2.8 million barrels of oil per day and the acquisition will increase Chevron's reserves by about 15 percent, Chevron said in a statement.

"Chevron is a fine company. They have a global perspective. They have comparable values," Williamson said. "I hope you (the stockholders) continue to support Chevron like you have Unocal." (IANS)