On late Friday night the Canadian government gave  approval to the grant of more than $20 billion in investments by foreign and government-controlled entities in its energy sector. However, it closed the door on state-owned enterprises for future deals in Canada's oil-sands developments. China's largest offshore oil-and-gas producer CNOOC confirmed the deal on Saturday.

It gave Chinese company a big hand and approved $15.1 billion takeover bid to Cnooc Ltd, a Beijing-based energy giant for oil-sands operator Nexen Inc. This move has resulted in   clearing a major obstacle in effecting what would be China Inc.''s first major foreign acquisition in oil sector. It is also the boldest bid by a foreign government-owned company so far to enter North America's flourishing and wealthy energy industry.

Calgary will be CNOOC`s new head office of its North and Central American operations. It will also retain Nexen's current management team and employees. The partnership of CNOOC and Nexen in Canada's oil sands is already established. The Beijing-based oil gaint  acquired Nexen's bankrupt partner, OPTI Canada Inc., a partner in the Long Lake oil sands project, in 2011. The Nexen deal comes seven years after the Chinese company CNOOC,'s  failure in 2005 to purchase Unocal Corp.