BANGKOK - Oil was becalmed near US$102 a barrel Tuesday as U.S. legislators tried to hammer out an agreement to raise the government's borrowing limit and avoid a possible default.Benchmark crude for November delivery was down 4 cents to $102.37 a barrel at late afternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 39 cents to close at $102.41 on Monday.The oil price has swung back and forth for days as lawmakers attempt to resolve an impasse that [Read more]

OTTAWA - Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver is off to China to tell investors there that their prospects in Canada remain strong. Oliver tells The Canadian Press that he is going to make the point that it is not any harder for companies, including state-owned enterprises, to come into Canada and invest than it was a year ago. Last week, former Conservative cabinet minister Jim Prentice said Chinese investment had all but dried up in Canada's lucrative oil and gas sector. Prentice, a [Read more]

REGINA - There has been a drop in the sale of oil and natural gas rights in Saskatchewan. The province says the October sale of Crown rights has brought in $9.1 million. That compares to $15.2 million for the same time last year. Energy Minister Tim McMillan says the change reflects a shift in focus by the energy industry as companies drill what they already have rather than buying new rights. The ministry expects energy land sales to increase next year as more leases become [Read more]

BEIJING - China has achieved another world-beating status its leaders don't want: Biggest oil importer. China passed the United States in September as the world's biggest net oil importer, driven by faster economic growth and strong auto sales, according to U.S. government data released this week. Chinese oil consumption outstripped production by 6.3 million barrels per day, which indicates the country had to import that much to fill the gap, the Energy Information Administration said this [Read more]