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.

CanadaÔÇÖs Harvest Energy has been sold to the Korea National Oil Corp. for C$1.8 billion (US$1.7 billion).  Harvest is one of Canada's largest oil producers and refiners with a current capacity of 53,400 barrels of crude and gas per day.  As of January this year it had confirmed reserves of 219.9 million barrels and 950 employees, with oil fields in Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Colombia.  The company also operates a 115,000-barrel-a-day refinery in Newfoundland and Labrador, at which it had hoped to commence a C$2 billion expansion project last year.

Abu Dhabi National Energy Co (Taqa) has agreed with partners to invest Ôé¼800 million in the joint development of a gas storage project in the Netherlands.