Big US oil drilling firm being bought by Kuwait

Kuwait is buying the American oil drilling company Santa Fe Internationational Corporation for $2.5 billion in cash -- the largest known direct investment by an Arab company in the United States.

The Alhambra-based company announced that its board of directors, including former President Gerald Ford and Roderick Hills, former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, unanimously agreed to the merger with the government-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.

Estimates show OPEC members already have US holdings worth between $69.8 billion to $200 billion, including up to $55 billion from Kuwait.