Canada to ask China for reciprocity in Nexen bid

Canada plans to ask China to approve several pending deals in exchange for supporting CNOOC’s (CEO.NYSE, 0883.HKG) US$15.1 billion bid for Canadian energy company Nexen (NXY.NYSE), Bloomberg reported, citing an anonymous source. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his government will soon release a list of deals by Canadian companies in China, highlighting that reciprocity will be an important part of investment policies, an anonymous source said. Another person with knowledge of the matter said Canada is seeking concessions before agreeing to the deal. In February, Harper asked Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to permit investments from Toronto-based Manulife Financial (MFC.TSE, MFC.NYSE) and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TSE). On October 19, Canada rejected a bid by Malaysian state-owned oil company Petroliam Nasional for Progress Energy (PGN.NYSE, PRQ.TSE), sending shares of Canadian oil and gas companies tumbling.