Canada has blocked Malaysian state oil firm Petronas's C$5.17 billion ($5.2 billion) bid for gas producer Progress Energy Resources , throwing the country's energy sector into turmoil.The surprise move could signal problems for Chinese oil group CNOOC's C$15.1 billion offer for oil producer Nexen and, longer term, weigh on other Canadian firms hoping for foreign investment to tap their vast energy reserves.Also, any rejection of the CNOOC bid would likely damage trade ties Canada has been trying to build with China, and would underline political sensitivity to Chinese corporate expansion in North America.The government, which has said C$630 billion investment is needed over the next decade, has been trying to balance concerns over the deals with a need for foreign investment.
Progress Energy Resources Corp (Progress) is engaged in the exploration for, and the acquisition, development and production of, oil and natural gas reserves in the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta. Shares of PRQ fell by 0.87% or $-0.19/share to $21.65. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $9.44 and as high as $22.94. On average, 2286570 shares of PRQ.TO exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 9977101.
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