WASHINGTON, July 27 (Reuters) – Senator Charles Schumer said
on Friday that the Obama administration should use a bid by
China’s state-run CNOOC for Canadian oil company Nexen
Inc as leverage to fix long-standing trade and
investment issues with China.

Schumer, who has made criticism of China’s economic policies
a hallmark of his career, has argued that China fixes the value
of its currency too low, creating unfair trading conditions. He
said in a statement that he does not object to CNOOC’s $15.1
billion deal on its merits.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government should block a bid by China’s state oil company CNOOC for Canadian oil company Nexen until China’s government provides fair access for U.S. companies that want to invest in China, a top Democratic senator plans to tell Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Friday.

In a draft letter obtained by Reuters, Charles Schumer, the Senate’s No. 3 Democrat and a frequent critic of China’s trade and currency policy, said the powerful Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States should not approve the deal until China makes “tangible, enforceable commitments” on market access for U.S. companies.

WASHINGTON, July 26 (Reuters) – China’s plan to gain a
bigger foothold in North American oil production shows the U.S.
government needs a more aggressive energy policy, a group of
influential Senate Republicans said on Thursday.

The senators said they were concerned about the bid by
China’s state oil company CNOOC for the Canadian oil
company Nexen, but they stopped short of saying that
the U.S. government should try to do something to stop it.

WASHINGTON, July 25 (Reuters) – Congressman Randy Forbes, a
Republican who has been wary of China’s military and economic
power, said he is alarmed by a bid by China’s state oil company
CNOOC for Canadian oil company Nexen.

But Forbes said there is not much he can do about it.

“Whatever we would do would simply be talking in the wind,
because we don’t have any legal authority to stop this action,”
Forbes told Reuters.

WASHINGTON, July 27 (Reuters) – U.S. congressional
negotiators are trying to finish work on new sanctions aimed at
further restricting Iran’s oil revenues, a package they hope to
approve by the end of next week before lawmakers leave
Washington for an extended recess.

The sanctions, which have been in the works for more than
seven months, are designed to crack down on transactions with
Iran’s national oil and tanker companies, and to hamper the
ability of Iranian banks to transfer funds electronically.

WASHINGTON, July 24 (Reuters) – Republican senators will
unveil new energy legislation on Thursday that will help battle
a new move by China to tap North American energy resources,
Senator John Hoeven said.

China’s state-owned oil company CNOOC Ltd.
launched a $15.1 billion takeover bid for Canada’s Nexen Inc
, a company with operations in the Gulf of Mexico as
well as in Canada’s oilsands.

WASHINGTON, July 23 (Reuters) – A Republican lawmaker who
has tried several times to marshal congressional support to
speed approval of the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline is taking
another crack at it with a new bill, but said the strategy for
moving the plan forward was not yet clear.

Lee Terry said Monday’s announcement that China’s state oil
company CNOOC plans to buy Nexen Inc, a
player in Canada’s massive oil sands resource could give
political momentum to his latest push.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Senators who support the Pentagon’s push to expand its use of biofuels said they have a plan to answer critics who argue the fuel is far too expensive to help develop at a time when the military faces massive cuts.

The battle on Capitol Hill comes as the Navy’s “Great Green Fleet” prepares to run military exercises in the central Pacific that will, on Thursday, feature its first operational test of biofuels.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A coalition of retired U.S. military officers defended the Pentagon’s plans to boost the use of more expensive biofuels, telling senators and their staff on Thursday that reduced dependence on oil from the Middle East would ultimately reduce costs and improve national security.

The U.S. veterans were fighting efforts by some Republicans to stop the purchase of expensive biofuels and spending on biofuel refineries at a time when defense budgets face massive cuts.

WASHINGTON, July 11 (Reuters) – Jennifer Case had big plans
for expansion of her small San Diego plant that turns used
restaurant cooking oil into biodiesel fuel after it sold out its
entire production of about 1.5 million gallons in 2011.

By the end of the year, business had taken a “devastating
turn,” Case told lawmakers at a Capitol Hill hearing on
Wednesday probing fraud in the biodiesel industry.