OTTAWA – The federal government has approved the takeovers of two Canadian energy companies by Asian state-controlled firms.
 
Ottawa signed off on the takeover of Calgary-based Nexen by China’s CNOOC and Progress Energy Resources  by Malaysia’s Petronas late Friday afternoon.
 
 But in a wide-ranging update of foreign takeover rules, it has said it will only consider future takeover deals in the oilsands by state-owned companies in exceptional circumstances.
 
And all state-owned enterprises seeking to buy large Canadian companies will face greater scrutiny about how they operate and how much control their home governments would have over how they do business.
 
Prime Minister Stephen Harper says foreign state control of oilsands development has reached the point where further control would not be beneficial to Canada.
   
 He says while Canada is open for business to foreign investors, it’s not for sale.