A look at the oilsands deals that have consolidated Canadian control
CALGARY — Cenovus Energy (TSX:CVE) made a splash in the oil patch Wednesday with a $17.7-billion deal to buy a big chunk of U.S.-based ConocoPhillips’s oilsands assets, doubling the size of the Calgary-based company in the process. Here’s a quick look at some of the other deals struck by Canadian operators:
Canadian Natural Resources (TSX:CNQ) announced on March 9 plans to spend $12.7 billion buying up oilsands assets from Netherlands-based Royal Dutch Shell and U.S.-based Marathon Oil. Canadian Natural will take Shell’s 60 per cent stake in the Athabasca Oil Sands Project, plus a 10 per cent stake owned by Marathon. Shell ends up with 10 per cent ownership of project after buying the other half of Marathon’s stake and will retain 100 per cent ownership of the neighbouring Scotford refinery and chemicals plants.
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Athabasca Oil Corp. said in December it would buy the oilsands assets of Norway’s Statoil for up to $832 million. The deal included Statoil’s six-year-old Leismer thermal oilsands project and its proposed Corner oilsands project, plus associated infrastructure. The deal left Statoil with some exposure to the oilsands, in the form of a close to 20 per cent stake in Athabasca.