Foreign Confidential ™

Petro-Canada yesterday denied rumors that the company has received an approach from China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) concerning the Canadian firm's oil and gas assets in Libya and Syria.

That may be technically true. But China Confidential has learned that the company that is acquiring Petro-Canada, Suncor Energy, is aware of CNPC's serious interest in buying Petro-Canada's natural gas properties in Syria and offshore oil holdings in Libya.

CNPC is China's largest integrated oil and gas company.