The governments of Canada and Alberta province have announced funding of C$778.8 million to support a project to capture carbon emissions in western Canada.  The money will be used to upgrade TransAltaÔÇÖs coal-fired Keephills 3 power plant west of Edmonton, Alberta, with the aim of reducing its carbon emissions. TransAlta is CanadaÔÇÖs largest investor-owned power producer, headquartered in Calgary.

Swiss-based mining firm Xstrata has confirmed that it has ÔÇ£no intentionÔÇØ of making an offer for its rival, London-based Anglo American.

CanadaÔÇÖs NAL Oil & Gas Trust has agreed to buy junior oil exploration company Breaker Energy for C$310 million, the two companies announced today. As a result of the deal, NAL will acquire the oil-focused Irricana property in central Alberta and the Fireweed natural gas reserve in north-eastern British Columbia. NAL will also gain around 140,000 undeveloped acres as part of the agreement, an increase of 34 percent on its current acreage. BreakerÔÇÖs average production for this year is expected to be around 6,700 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

A consortium led by Italian energy giant ENI has won the contract to exploit IraqÔÇÖs Zubair oilfield, following a successful first round bid.

The New York-based insurance giant American International Group (AIG) has agreed to sell its Taiwanese life insurance unit for $2.15 billion. The Taiwan business, Nan Shan Life, has been sold to Hong Kong-based Primus Financial, a new financial services firm run by former Citigroup executive Robert Morse. Primus has teamed up with Hong Kong-based China Strategic Holdings to make the purchase.

UAE-based firm Dana Gas has discovered gas reserves in Egypt totalling 86 billion cubic feet.

The copper division of mining giant Xstrata has agreed to sell its 70 percent interest in El Morro SCM, the holder of Chilean copper-gold project El Morro, to Canadian mining firm Barrick Gold Corp.┬á  El Morro has been sold for $465 million.  Zug, Switzerland-based Xstrata has said it is seeking to better direct its resources towards other development projects, five of which will reach final decision stage within the next few months.

The copper division of mining giant Xstrata has agreed to sell its 70 per cent interest in El Morro SCM, the holder of Chilean copper-gold project El Morro.

DetroitÔÇÖs General Motors (GM) is nearing the sale of its Hummer business to ChinaÔÇÖs Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery for around $150 million. The deal will mark the first major acquisition of US automotive assets by China since the start of the global downturn. Industry insiders have suggested that the deal may close as early as today. When GM initially announced the sale of Hummer in June, it expected the brand would fetch around $500 million. Tengzhong has said that under the terms of the agreement, it will keep HummerÔÇÖs headquarters in Detroit and re

UK oil company BP has entered into a partnership with China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) to develop the Rumaila oilfield in Iraq.