Harper Says Canada to Decide on Nexen, Investment Rules

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the government will make decisions on foreign- investment guidelines and on whether to approve “a couple” of proposals including Cnooc Ltd.’s $15.1 billion bid for Canada’s Nexen Inc. (NXY) in “the near future.”

“We intend obviously to make decisions on a couple of particular matters along with some more general guidance to the marketplace; we intend to do that in the near future,” Harper said at a press conference in Ottawa today where he is meeting Mexican President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto.

Canada is reviewing the sale of Calgary-based Nexen and an appeal of Petroliam Nasional Bhd.’s rejected C$5.2 billion ($5.24 billion) bid for Progress Energy Resources Corp. (PRQ) The country’s foreign takeover law says that transactions must have a “net benefit” to the country to win approval, and the government is also working on a broader set of investment guidelines.

Harper’s response didn’t name Petronas directly today.

To contact the reporters on this story: Theophilos Argitis in Ottawa at targitis@bloomberg.net; Greg Quinn in Ottawa at gquinn1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chris Wellisz at cwellisz@bloomberg.net