Chinese bid for Nexen 'politically unthinkable' five years ago: Rubin

The $15 billion bid by a Chinese state-owned company to acquire Nexen, a major oil sands producer, indicates just how far Canada's economic priorities have shifted, argues acclaimed energy thinker Jeff Rubin. "As the Nexen deal shows," Rubin writes, "Calgary’s economic compass, which used to point south to Houston, is now being drawn east to Beijing." His analysis comes after news broke Monday that CNOOC Ltd., China's largest offshore oil producer, had announced a "blockbuster deal" to acquire Nexen, a prominent, though struggling, Canadian oil sands producer. If approved, the takeover deal would be the sixth-largest in Canada's history.