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油砂热降温, Petro-Canada油砂矿田lease难卖
5 R0 m( F, X1 v6 D- V. `- |' iPetro-Canada 暂停了转卖5个阿省北部油砂矿租约的计划, 原因是几个投标公司的出价都低于Petro-Canada的预期定价。 9 M( l$ V: T8 i* b! O2 s# z
Petro-Canada 的VP称这几个都是高质量的油砂资产, 但是市场并不认可它们的价值, 如果"价格合适"将来还是会出售这些油砂矿. - \6 S/ {# v) ?0 c+ f) p* W; I
去年11月, Petro-Canada决定出售这些油砂矿, 这也许是一个信号, 预示阿省持续2年的"油砂热"开始冷却。特别是近期石油价格剧烈波动, 一度跌破50美元的心理价位, 周二油价反弹至58, 低于一年前同期的65.11价位。
8 O+ f1 z9 X) e# q. t! q7 LPetro-Canada并不是唯一一个为卖掉油砂的发愁的公司。 ' ?, F! c+ T/ t! e
Talisman Energy去年9月也宣布要出售拥有的油砂租约, 但因买家喊价过低搁浅。
# v' ?# t8 s# n5 G1 \/ W4 L+ P# `还有其他的信号表明油砂热冷却。 6 B/ o2 D) D9 G/ `
省政府一月份出售油砂矿开采租约的收入也大大低于预期。 / x: ?9 {! |! K' b9 E
世界最大的能源公司之一, Britain's BP PLC明确表示不会进入阿省油砂市场。公司高级官员表示公司的投资重点放在传统石油开采业上。
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3 G j% u1 B( a1 e j- H2 P( c% YOilsands 'fever' cooling
& j. q0 @' E. V9 s9 CPetro-Canada withdraws leases after offers come up short
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. W% x; f' u8 F# GFont: * * * * Ashok Dutta, Calgary Herald 3 D; f$ K& c; |
Published: Wednesday, February 07, 2007 ( U- H0 r1 l N" _2 L
Petro-Canada has put plans for the sale of its stakes in five oilsands leases in northern Alberta on hold after bids submitted by a group of unidentified North American and global companies came in below expectations.
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"These are high-quality oilsands assets," Neil Camarta, Petro-Canada's senior vice-president for oilsands, said Tuesday in a statement on the company website. "We put a high value on them, which was not met by the market. We would consider selling these properties in the future -- if the price is right."
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4 J( K1 y) \/ {# f/ mIn November, Petro-Canada issued bid documents for the sale of its stakes, ranging from 10 per cent to 36 per cent, in five in-situ acreages of Chard, Stony Mountain, Liege, Thornbury and Ipiatik.
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2 m3 x: H4 r2 N2 |: V; J0 |) K# YTogether, the company estimates the properties hold reserves of 1.7 billion barrels of bitumen ! f0 v% J5 _4 F K2 e( }& w% F" G
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The announcement did not come as a surprise to industry-watchers -- even though they may indicate a cooling of the so-called "oilsands fever" that has engulfed northern Alberta's unconventional oil reserves for the last two years. " ]: N5 C0 P7 e' s: a" l
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"They were non-operated assets and there was nothing obvious in terms of what is the real value of the assets," FirstEnergy Capital oilsands analyst, Mark Friesen, suggested. - {+ L* j8 o b# w
- p1 J/ U+ r" `) P# ` VIndependent analysts have put the total value of the five leases at about $1.44 billion, a figure not disputed by - g( O- v) Y) ?
3 [; K2 @/ y% c" mPetro-Canada.
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. h L7 H7 C, j. n"Since November, some issues have come into play. The price of oil has changed and so has the capital costs of developing oilsands projects. Our belief is it is primarily the need for prospective investors to apply caution that has gained precedence," Friesen said, by way of explaining the lower-than-expected response to Petro-Canada's sales offer. ( Y( N' D3 {7 ~( G% {- @! l. Y
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In particular, the price of oil has been extremely volatile in recent weeks, falling to the $50 US per barrel mark before rebounding toward $60 this week.
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1 F. _# P8 _. H/ J; Z8 @# g9 t; ROil closed at $58.88 US on Tuesday on the NYMEX compared with $65.11 a year ago.
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Petro-Canada is not the only company struggling to sell oilsands leases.
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Talisman Energy announced last September that it was auctioning off all its oilsands leases in northern Alberta -- a sale expected to fetch more than $1 billion.
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Talisman was able to sell its 1.25 per cent of oilsands giant Syncrude and its royalty on a lease held by Suncor Energy for a combined $583 million.
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- t4 `( K0 |, }+ k7 Y9 tBut offers have not been high enough for the company's two main holdings, including the wholly owned Lease 10 -- which spans 27.5 square kilometres just south of Suncor's Steepbank mine.
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Talisman also has a 75 per cent stake in Lease 50, which covers more than 88 square kilometres just north of the new Long Lake oilsands project being developed by Nexen Inc. and Opti Canada Inc. . ]* u: P) M5 V, V4 V
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Spokesman Barry Nelson told The Canadian Press on Tuesday that Talisman had received numerous bids for the two large oilsands leases, "but they remain up for sale." 7 R0 [8 s7 t! @( O( U* J9 Z
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There are other signs the net asset value of oilsands leases is waning. / l4 {1 R- t6 ]+ G0 t" I+ _6 u" o2 {
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On Jan. 11, the province kicked off the new year by collecting $133.6 million from the sale of oilsands properties. In addition, it took another $54.24 million from the sale of sealed auction of conventional petroleum and natural gas rights.
' ~3 Y0 s' ~1 M- ~: E& T6 v& eAlthough substantial, the results still fell short of expectations. It was widely believed the properties would be worth more than $200 million. A total of 99 oilsands leases were offered for sale, fetching an average price of $667 per hectare compared with 2006's average of $1,300 per hectare. 0 k/ Q; o( E+ S. U; D) s7 N
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In addition, there are signs that last year's international infatuation with the oilsands may be waning. 9 `# i7 J+ E% \- }' |
$ G9 q f& ]. HBritain's BP PLC, one of the world's leading energy companies, reaffirmed its plans of not to enter the Alberta oilsands industry in spite of questionable reserve issues. 1 k* X/ s, |9 y6 a
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"My priority is simple and clear," said Tony Hayward, the chief executive-designate. "It is to implement our strategy by focusing like a laser on safe and reliable operations."
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* ^7 G$ b+ R9 r" l7 |, EHayward, who is at present the head of BP's exploration and production, made these statements while stressing the need for the oil major to adopt a conservative approach.
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3 Y0 R- @ d) s"Once again, it reflects the caution that is being implemented by some of the oil majors. For the likes of BP, it is a question of where you deploy your cash and investment. In any case, BP has not been a investor in the oilsands sector, as yet," said Friesen.
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However, Alberta's target of attracting investments for some $100 billion in various oilsands projects by 2015 received a major shot in the arm last week when the world's largest oil producer -- Saudi Aramco -- reaffirmed the importance of unconventional reserves going forward. ) r, F m9 p/ M. }3 T
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According to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, Alberta's total reserves are 175 billion barrels, second only to Saudi Arabia's 267 billion barrels. At current production rates, the oilsands are projected to guarantee 190 years of supply.
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"Access to a reliable supply of energy is essential to achieving greater prosperity and raising our standard of living," said Aramco president and CEO Abdullah Jumah, while stressing the need to derive energy from all available sources. "Technological advances would help augment today's 1 K* e1 k: k( Z5 v. J1 l
0 L! J* m- c! _4 F5 Y7 R* n1.2 trillion barrels of conventional proven oil reserves by at least 1.5 trillion barrels of unconventional reserves in heavy oil and tarsands." |
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