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ChevronTexaco sells more than $1B worth of Canadian properties
Don Whiteley Petroleum News Contributing Writer
Two Alberta-based energy trusts and a junior exploration company have purchased more than C$1 billion worth of producing oil and gas properties in Western Canada from ChevronTexaco Corp.
Saying it wants to concentrate its Canadian activities on core Alberta oil sands properties, East Coast offshore prospects, and Mackenzie Delta properties, ChevronTexaco has let go exploration plays that were at the core of its western Canadian sedimentary basin operations for more than a decade. The company retains its refining and marketing interests.
Gone are the Fort Liard Basin plays that straddle the British Columbia—Northwest Territories border — plays that excited the oil patch a decade ago with prolific wells. Paramount Resources Ltd. will pay $189 million for properties in the Fort Liard area in the Northwest Territories and northeast British Columbia.
The acquisition gives Paramount major new operations near its largest core area and will add about 10,000 barrels a day of oil, natural gas and liquids production to the company. Resources Fund will pay $466.3 million Acclaim Energy Trust will pay $433.7 million to ChevronTexaco for a number of Alberta properties, while Enerplus
“We are excited to have secured these high-quality, legacy assets which are extremely complementary to our current properties in central, western and northern Alberta, and provides us with a position in long-life, high- quality production in western Manitoba,” Paul Charron, Acclaim president and CEO, said in a statement. Acclaim adds production, reserves Through this transaction, Acclaim adds about 17,000 barrels of oil equivalent production per day, increasing the trust fund’s overall production to more than 42,000 barrels a day. Total proved reserves grow to nearly 100 million barrels of oil equivalent.
For its part, Enerplus gets about 11,500 barrels of oil equivalent through conventional crude oil and natural gas producing properties. The production is split almost evenly between crude oil/natural gas liquids and natural gas. Enerplus’ proved reserves grow to about 19.3 million barrels. The move is the second announced by ChevronTexaco, having already announced the sale of its EnerPro Midstream Co. assets in Alberta.
“While they have been a profitable part of our portfolio for many years, the combination of current market conditions and the size of the assets relative to our portfolio makes this an ideal time for a divestiture,” Alex Archila, president of Canadian subsidiary Chevron Canada Resources, said in a statement. “This sale will allow the organization to focus its efforts on our new growth areas in Canada.”
ChevronTexaco vice-chairman Peter Robertson said Tuesday’s sales reflect the company’s strategy “to streamline the portfolio to include approximately 400 core fields that account for the vast majority of current production and cash flows.”
Based on market capitalization, ChevronTexaco is the second- largest U.S.-based energy company and the fifth largest in the world, based on market capitalization.
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