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CALGARY – Chinese oil company CNOOC Ltd. is confident its US$15.1-billion bid for Nexen Inc. provides a “net benefit” to Canada because the deal helps accelerate resource development and increases job creation, making it aligned with Canadian government goals, the company’s two top executives said Monday.

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Li Fanrong, president and CEO of the Beijing-based, state controlled Chinese oil company, and Fang Zhi, president of CNOOC International Ltd., who negotiated the transaction, said in an interview in Calgary their company has operated in Canada since 2005 and understands how to behave in a market-driven economy.

“What gives us the confidence? In any M & A, one must look at the deal certainty, and we have done quite a bit of our homework,” Mr. Fang said. “But most importantly, this is a commercial transaction that is friendly and given time will prove for itself that it will bring net benefit to Canada. We are very confident of that part of the story.”