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.
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Suncor Energy (TSX:SU) said last April it was spending $937 million to acquire U.S.-based Murphy Oil Corp.’s five per cent stake in the Syncrude oilsands operation. The deal boosted Suncor’s share of the project to nearly 54 per cent, following its takeover of Canadian Oil Sands.
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Suncor added to its holdings of the Fort Hills oilsands project in September 2015, buying a 10 per cent stake from France-based Total SA for $310 million. Total still holds a 29.2 per cent interest in the project, but the company’s footprint in the oilsands was also reduced in 2014 after it and partners decided to shelve the $11-billion Joslyn oilsands mine.
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Osum Oil Sands Corp. bought the Orion steam-based oilsands project in June 2014 in Alberta’s Cold Lake region from Shell for $325 million, which at the time was producing 6,700 barrels a day.