CNOOC Ltd (中國海洋石油), one of China’s three main state-owned oil and gas producers, said yesterday it has agreed to buy Canadian oil sands producer OPTI Canada Inc for US$2.1 billion.
The acquisition, which requires approval by regulators in both countries, would expand a growing Chinese presence in Canada’s oil sands industry following multibillion-dollar investments by other state-owned companies.
OPTI owns a 35 percent working interest in Long Lake and three other project areas located in the Athabasca region of northeastern Alberta, CNOOC said. The remainder is held by Nexen Inc, a Canadian energy company that is the sole operator.
CNOOC said it would pay OPTI shareholders US$34 million and assume just over US$2 billion in debt.
“We are pleased to expand our presence in the oil sands business,” CNOOC chief executive Yang Hua (楊華) said in a written statement.
Alberta has the world’s third-largest oil reserves after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, with more than 170 billion barrels. Total production from Alberta oil sands is forecast to nearly triple to 3.7 million barrels per day in 2025.
OPTI’s share of resources is estimated to be 195 million barrels of proved reserves, 534 million barrels of probable reserves, 1.1 billion barrels of contingent resources and 335 million barrels of prospective resources, according to CNOOC.
China’s two other main state-owned oil and gas producers also have invested in Alberta.
In 2009, PetroChina Ltd (中石油), Asia’s largest oil and gas producer by volume, bought a US$1.7 billion stake in Athabasca Oil Sands Corp.
Sinopec owns a stake in the Northern Gateway pipeline plan and paid US$4.6 billion for a 9 percent stake in Syncrude, Canada’s largest oil sands project.
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