Petrokazakhstan May Lose China Offer

Canadian oil firm Petrokazakhstan may not admit the $4.2-billion offer from China National Petroleum Corp. because of the will of the authorities.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has signed a document on Saturday on legal changes giving the government pre-emptive rights on all strategic resources in Kazakhstan.

The law amendments announced on the weekend give the Kazakh government the right to limit the transfer of property rights to strategic resources or assets and are aimed at pre-empting changes of ownership that occur through the sale and purchase of shares listed on exchanges.

However, despite all obstacles, PetroKazakhstan shareholders are widely expected to approve the deal in a vote.