Canada could still approve the C$5.17 billion ($5.22 billion) acquisition of Progress Energy Resources Corp by Malaysian state oil company Petronas, the country's finance minister said on Sunday, despite blocking the bid late last week.While observers predict a chaotic market reaction following the federal government's statement late on Friday that the deal did not provide the "net benefit" required from foreign buyers under the Investment Canada Act, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Canadian television that negotiations continue."I'm not involved in those discussions directly. The minister of industry is," Flaherty said in an interview on CTV's "Question Period". "I'm sure they'll continue to work on it. There's another period of time during which they can continue to have discussions and try to satisfy the concerns that the Department of Industry has."The government's Friday announcement, minutes before a deadline, was a blow to Petronas, whose domestic oil supplies are shrinking and which has been seeking to boost its resources beyond Malaysia and volatile areas such as Sudan.
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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