US approves Chinese takeover of Nexen

Approval by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States cements the deal.

The approval from the CFIUS was also needed because Nexen has U.S. interests. The US$15.1 billion takeover had broad implications in Canada and elsewhere, due to Nexen's extensive holdings in Alberta's oilsands, the Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea.

The Canadian federal government approved the deal in December 2012 after extensive debate about ownership of major resources by foreign state-owned entities such as the state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation or CNOOC. This Chinese company focuses on the exploitation, exploration and development of crude oil and natural gas offshore of China.

Canada approved the Nexen takeover under the old rules but introduced new guidelines that will limit similar deals in the future. China, Britain and the European Union have also given their go ahead for the Nexen takeover.

U.S. regulators have approved the $15.1 billion takeover of Canadian oil and gas company Nexen Inc by China's state-owned CNOOC Ltd, removing the final obstacle to the Asian country's largest-ever foreign takeover.

Nexen expects the deal to close the week of February 25, seven months after China's top offshore oil and gas producer made its bid of US$27.50 a share.

Nexen did not say whether CFIUS had imposed conditions on the approval, and company officials were not available for comment.