Rivals upbeat after CNOOC-Nexen deal

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CALGARY, Alberta, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Canada's approval for the Chinese acquisition of Alberta oil company Nexen could mean good things for the country's LNG potential, those in a similar deal said.

Shareholders in Canadian energy company Progress Energy in August approved of the takeover by Malaysia's state-owned energy company Petronas. Both companies said they expect to complete the transaction Wednesday.

The Canadian government this week gave its approval for the $15 billion takeover energy company Nexen Inc. by China National Offshore Oil Corp.

"(The CNOOC-Nexen) approval by the Canadian government marks an important step in our plans to develop a liquefied natural gas export business," Progress Energy Chief Executive Officer and President Michael Culbert said in a statement.

Culbert said the new partnership was moving forward with preliminary work on the front-end engineering design work for its Pacific Northwest LNG project. Progress explained a final investment decision is expected in 2014 and first gas is expected in 2018.

Canadian Minister of Industry Christian Paradis had said in a letter to Petronas that he was "not satisfied" the $6 billion bid was in the national interest.