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 | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |