PetroChina buys stake in Canadian shale gas fieldDecember 15, 2012 - 11:00 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Chinese oil group PetroChina is buying a stake in a big Canadian shale gas field for $2.2bn, highlighting Chinese energy companies' growing interest in Canadian resources after the $18bn Cnooc-Nexen deal, CNN reports. PetroChina, China's biggest oil company by production, will form a joint venture with Encana of Canada that gives the Chinese company a 49.9 per cent stake in Encana's Duvernay lands project in Alberta, an area that contains shale oil and shale gas. It is the second big overseas deal by PetroChina this week, following its $1.6bn investment in the Browse natural gas project in Western Australia on Wednesday. China's state-owned oil companies have a mandate to expand their overseas operations at a time when China's oil and gas imports are surging to meet growing domestic demand. Canada has been a magnet for Chinese energy investment thanks to its rich resources, open foreign investment climate and stable regulatory environment. The Canadian approval sent a reassuring signal to investors about the country's openness to foreign takeovers. However, Stephen Harper, Canada's prime minister, also set out a new policy on acquisitions by foreign state-controlled companies such as PetroChina and Cnooc, which puts new obstacles in the path of such deals, and bans them altogether in the oil sands of western Canada. The Nexen takeover should not be seen as "the beginning of a trend, but rather the end of a trend", Harper said. "To be blunt, Canadians have not spent years reducing the ownership of sectors of the economy by our own governments, only to see them bought and controlled by foreign governments instead." Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | Russia provides info about arrested Armenian ex-MP Russian law enforcement agencies have provided information about the arrest of Tigran Urikhanyan. Lemkin Institue slams Pashinyan's “cryptic engagement with Genocide denial” The Lemkin Institute is alarmed over Pashinyan’s statements “questioning Armenia's legal basis to pursue justice against Turkey”. 41 detained as antigovernment protests continue in Yerevan 41 people were detained in Yerevan as people demanding Pashinian’s resignation stage campaigns of civil disobedience. Armenia votes for UN resolution granting Palestine new rights The U.N. General Assembly voted by a wide margin on May 10 to grant new “rights and privileges” to Palestine. |