(Corrects company name in first paragraph.)

Cnooc Ltd.’s $15.1 billion bid for Nexen Inc. (NXY) would have significant implications and must be judged to be in the long-term interest of the Canadian economy, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said.

Harper made the comment to reporters in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Mayeda in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut at amayeda@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Scanlan at dscanlan@bloomberg.net