ConocoPhillips, the third largest energy company in the US, has announced it is to sell up to $10 billion worth of assets. Under the two-year program, the Houston-based company is considering selling the bottom-performing 10 percent of its producing assets in North America, as well as a selection of its natural gas properties in the North Sea. The company is also considering selling pipelines and terminals in the US in addition to its nine percent interest in Syncrude, a joint venture to develop oil sands in Canada. The company has confirmed it has no intention of sellin

The UK government has announced the £70 million sale of land near the Sellafield nuclear complex to a European consortium.

Canadian oil and gas firm Petrobank will begin testing new oil extraction technology at an oil well in Saskatchewan that could position the region as a major force in North American energy production. The toe-to-heel air injection, or THAI, technology is to be trialed on a $12 million, two-well site near Kerrobert. The method allows for greater oil recovery rates and leaves a smaller environmental footprint than other conventional methods. THAI uses underground combustion to heat the bitumen or oil.

UK energy group Centrica, the parent company of British Gas, has announced it has received investment approval for the construction of a wind farm project off the coast of Lincolnshire.

Chinese state-owned China Investment Corporation (CIC) has announced that it will invest $500 million in the Canadian company SouthGobi Energy Resources, a unit of Vancouver-based Ivanhoe Mines.  The money will be used to accelerate the development of SouthGobiÔÇÖs Mongolian coal assets. The company's main project is currently the Ovoot Tolgoi coal mine in South Gobi region of Mongolia, approximately 40 kilometres north of the Mongolia-China border.

German utility firm E.ON is planning to build a new gas-fired power plant at a site in Nottinghamshire in the UK, according to the Financial Times.

Californian firm Fisker Automotive is in talks to buy the General Motors plant in Wilmington, Delaware, in order to produce a plug-in electric hybrid that will hit the US market in 2012.  The plant in question is GMÔÇÖs 3.2 million square foot Boxwood Road plant, the last automotive plant in the state, which has been idled since July this year.  Most recently, the factory, which opened in 1947, produced the Saturn Sky and Pontiac Solstice models.

Dutch brewer Heineken is in talks to buy the brewing operations of Mexican conglomerate Femsa, according to a report by the Financial Times.

Online retailer Amazon has beaten analystsÔÇÖ forecasts with a 68 percent jump in profits from a year earlier.  The companyÔÇÖs profits reached $199 million for the period July to September, with total sales rising to $5.45 billion. AnalystsÔÇÖ estimates were for around $5 billion in sales for the period.  The 45 cents per share profits far exceeded analystsÔÇÖ average estimates of 30 cents per share.  North American revenue rose by 23 percent during the quarter.

Mining group Anglo American is to sell off its non-core assets as part of a drive to streamline the business and generate cash.